


Augmented

by AnisaAnisa



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Cyberpunk, Drug Use, Drug Withdrawal, Eventual Smut, F/M, Future Fic, Mental Health Issues, Mystery, Romance, Slow Burn, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:21:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 44,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27875265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnisaAnisa/pseuds/AnisaAnisa
Summary: Inuyasha is a lucky guy. Managing to stay on the right side of the track in a metropolis that near dragged its inhabitants into degeneracy was a feat in and of itself. So what if he hated his job? So what if his best friend was overbearing and his so-called guardian was crazy? None of that matters when you can barely remember your own name.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha
Comments: 56
Kudos: 47





	1. Prologue

" _Anything that can be done to a rat can be done to a human being. And we can do most anything to rats." - Bruce Sterling_

* * *

The year: 2392.

Earth is a far cry from what it once was, the passing years watering down most of what little culture it's inhabitants had managed to accrue over a short span of time. Short that is, in the grand scheme of things. Few places are inhabitable now, the small percentage of land not yet taken over by sea damaged beyond repair by misuse and neglect.

Hubs of life jut out from the horizon, making impressive use of vertical space. A handful of goliath cities stand tall in the wake of a once beautiful world, sustaining nothing but themselves as humans and demons alike are confined to their city limits. Towering skyscrapers and monoliths teeming with whatever may be required to keep a city functional roll on endlessly, halting abruptly at the border of scorched earth. No physical boundaries separated the two vastly different ecosystems; there was no need for them.

The message was as clear as day; there's nothing out there.

As the world rushes to terraform Mars -the inevitable doom of the earth as a habitable planet within a few centuries at best- political unrest is at an all-time high while empathy for fellow man is at an all-time low. _High_ tech, _low_ life. That was always on the cards as sentient beings began to rely more heavily on their mechanical counterparts.

Before long, the lines blurred, and at the turn of the 24th Century, it was a way of life. The way it had been before locked solely in the memories of those long dead, history rarely referred to as it held little to no importance in the modern world. A modern world that was dying at an alarming rate. Religion was no more, most coming to the realization that existing and surviving _was_ their religion.

Biomechanical procedures were a must, especially for those lacking in demonic blood. Once considered an elite practice, ' _Enhancement'_ is now the norm. Individuals from all walks of life were using the advancement in an otherwise taboo technology to their advantage. Thugs, thieves and the lowest of the low flocked to have their bodies mutilated with mechanical and cybernetic upgrades in the hopes that it would further their chances of living comfortably in a place where they didn't matter. Those who were more fortunate used their money and power to undergo cosmetic enhancements, a blatant show of status amongst the masses. While some saw this as a bright spark in an otherwise bleak world, others watched on as the façade of society crumbled piece by piece.

Bright neon lights, colossal lit up billboards and colourful holograms the size of buildings flood every nook and cranny of Angel City, its luminosity concealing the truth that lay under its citizens' noses. When the lights go out, and the streets are shrouded in darkness, all that is left are shades of grey, dampened by the near-constant rain and chilled by the unfeeling metal and glass that make up its structures.

If you're lucky enough, the bitter reality of living in a dying world reliant on its technology can be ignored through monetary ignorance. If you're not...well. You'd better carve a path for yourself if you hope to survive it. For those who don't make it, the cold, hard truth is clear.

You were not meant for this world.

And they will forget about you.

* * *

_Fin_


	2. Chapter 1: The Luck Of The Draw

_"Lethargy is the forerunner of death to the public liberty." -Thomas Jefferson_

* * *

" _...ha...yash...Inuya..._ Inuyasha! _"_

He inhaled. Sharp, almost painful. Weary eyes focused unsteadily on the blur of colours and shapes before him as reality slowly started to seep into the confines of his mind. His ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton, his tongue tied by some otherworldly force. Letting his breath out as evenly as he could, considering he didn't know what the fuck happening right now, he forced himself to get to grips with his situation.

He focused on his head first, throbbing -because _of course,_ it was- and worked his way down to his neck, shoulders, arms...oh, his hands were placed on a flat surface. He realised all too quickly he was sitting in a chair, what felt like his office chair, feet firmly in front of him as the blinding lights of his surroundings brought colour back into his world. He was at work if the sounds around him and the concerned violet gaze of his best friend were anything to go by.

"You OK there, bud? You were spacing out pretty hard." Miroku murmured as he leaned closer to his friend, trying to gauge his current state by narrowing his gaze upon the other man.

"Uh.." he croaked. _Fuck_. His throat ached, he needed water _now_. As if by some miracle, his companion produced a company allocated -because _everything_ was- water bottle seemingly out of nowhere and handed it over, all but shoving the metal canister in his face as a demand, rather than an offer. Inuyasha took it, unscrewing the cap with only a _slight_ tremble in his hand, he noted with shame or pride, he couldn't really tell, and gingerly sipped at the water. Before long he was chugging most of its contents down his parched throat. He sagged, relief washing through his system as he felt a small sense of calm spread over him that he knew would only be momentary. He fumbled in his trouser pockets -company allocated because, _of course,_ they were- feeling the thick plastic lining of the pill bottle underneath his claws. He ran his fingertip along the smooth service, breathing in deep and wondering, maybe even hoping, that he wouldn't have to crumble and rely on them this time. Maybe just this _one_ time.

His breathing quickened. The pounding in his head became muted, before pulsing so hard it caused his eyes to slam shut in a wince that had his teeth gritting together and his ears flattening to his head.

He inhaled and pulled the small plastic bottle from his pocket. He exhaled and popped the cap to shakily let two of the little oval pills land on his sweaty palm. He inhaled. He stared at them, willing himself to stop being such a fucking _loser_ and get over this -whatever _this_ was- already. He exhaled. He took the pills in his mouth and swallowed.

Inuyasha deftly grabbed the water bottle he'd set aside on his desk and downed the rest, thankful that Miroku had popped up out of nowhere with exactly what he needed to come back down to earth. To come back from wherever the _fuck_ it was he went.

He handed the bottle back to his friend without so much as a word. Running a hand down his face, he blinked his eyes a few times to try and get the last of the fog to dissipate. He looked up into the well-meaning violet gaze of his friend, his best friend and probably only _real_ friend, thankful to see no trace of pity or amusement in his gaze as he fought with himself to stay anchored.

"Thanks." He said. Short, sweet. Like he always was when expressing gratitude. But his friend was able to read between the lines. He always did.

"No problem." Miroku asserted, sure of himself.

Inuyasha was lucky.

* * *

Before he knew it, lunch had rolled around, and Miroku was back at his desk, ready to head to the staff canteen after the first leg of their shift was done. Inuyasha looked around, seeing a few co-workers who were packing their desk up, some putting on their expensive suit jackets, others hunkering down to work through their allotted break time. He sighed, getting up and slugging his jacket over his shoulder as he hip-checked his chair under the desk. He soldiered on towards the elevators, paying no mind to the employees and cyborgs who surrounded him.

He hadn't meant to work, not really. He wanted to stay in that headspace for a moment longer, one where he might be able to figure out what was going on in his head. But damn near the second those pills hit his stomach lining he numbed the fuck out, and by the looks of it, managed to get nearly 4 hours of work under his belt without even noticing. Thus was the nature of the beast. Either have a total meltdown at work or become a zombie and get on with his tasks for the day. Besides, he was on company time. He was _always_ on company time.

He wasn't paying attention; otherwise, he might have noticed the short blonde in too-high heels coming out of an adjacent conference room, her head turned the other way as she said her farewells to those still occupying the space. He collided with her, nearly knocking the poor woman on her ass. _Well then_.

He reached out swiftly and steadied her before she had the chance to smash into the ground, one of the few times he was grateful for his part-demon heritage. He cringed almost immediately, realising his stupidity of thinking such a thing. He wouldn't have had to save her if he was paying attention in the first place.

For what it was worth, the woman didn't look angry, only flustered, as she gazed up at him while he made sure her feet were flat on the floor.

"Sorry 'bout that. Didn't see you coming." He tried to go for smooth, but he probably sounded fucking _dumb_.

"Oh! Uh…n-no problem at all! I should probably be looking where I'm going...that was silly of me, really!" She stumbled, a giggle working its way into the end of her sentence. She stared up at him, the bright green of her eyes so jarring that only enhancements could achieve it. She watched as if waiting for him to take the lead and make a conversation out of his nearly sending her fucking _flying_ across their office.

He stared back. He saw the quirk of her lip as she gave him a shy smile, the light dusting of pink as it bloomed across her cheeks and the lowering of her lids as she took him in more thoroughly, the opportunity for her to do so right there as he looked down at her with complete bafflement. Oh. _Oh._ No.

"Sorry again...uh...got somewhere to be." He straightened, staring ahead to his destination as he moved around her before giving her the chance to think. He was about halfway to the elevator when he heard her slight sputter and call for him to give her his name. He pretended not to hear her, damning the twitch of the ears that sat atop his head that gave away the fact that he had very well heard what she said.

He ignored it. The implication was clear, but he wasn't interested, not at work. Not where someone could easily find out too much, too fast. Figure out that he was not the kind of person to waste time on. He didn't need that. No, he'd keep his work and personal life separate. Like it should be. It was company policy after all.

Boarding the wide elevator, he grimaced when he saw the look on his friends face as he stepped onto the lift after him. _Fuck_ , he had forgotten he was there to witness that weird and _blatant_ interaction. But someone must have felt like showing him some form of mercy today because his friend didn't make a peep unless the tell-tale smirk that he didn't try to disguise counted as such.

As the elevator doors closed, mirrored because _why the fuck not_ , his reflection came into view before him and he let out a deep breath, feeling the weight of what was only half a day bear down on his shoulders.

Bright golden eyes. Sleek silver hair. Furry little dog ears on top of his head. A strong jaw and a face that tended to do him more favours than not. Broad shoulders and an impressively muscular frame that came naturally to him, something that was likely passed down to him from his father. He assumed it was his father, anyway. He was a good-looking guy, alright. And it worked well for him when he needed it to.

Inuyasha was lucky.

* * *

"...head to the bar after work. We haven't gone there in a while now." Miroku yammered on between mouthfuls of food – company allocated because, _of course,_ it was – as he tried to steer his best friend into partaking in his one-sided conversation. "Seriously man, I think it could be good for you to get out. We haven't done anything remotely fun together in _aeons._ "

Inuyasha's eyes were fixed on the window next to him, watching the sprawling cityscape that went further than any hint of a horizon he could distinguish. There were advantages, he supposed, to be so high off the ground when he was at work. He could take in the view of the place he called his home a little better. He stayed looking out the window, but not seeing. Not really.

He brought his sandwich to his mouth, hoping the appearance of eating would help buy time to try and weasel his way out of the proposition laid out for him. As he chewed, he made a point of looking like he was mulling over the question before swallowing.

"Nah." There.

Miroku levelled his deadpan stare to that of his friends. "You are literally no fun."

"Never claimed to be."

"You know, you used to be the life of the party...OK, _some_ times you would _maybe_ be the life of the party, what gives? You're far too young to be having a mid-life crisis. And if what happened on our floor earlier is anything to go by, you totally pull. That was real _meet cute_ , by the way. So, again, what _gives_?"

"Maybe I'm sick of babysitting you while we bar hop and you try it on with anything that's remotely female." He visibly cringed. Sometimes Miroku's standards were non-existent.

"Babysit? Me? _Never_. If anything, I'll be _your_ wingman tonight...if your current attitude is anything to go by."

"What are you even saying?"

"That you are in need of a helping hand, my friend. Perhaps someone to help loosen all that _tension_ you're feeling, hm?" Miroku raised his brows a few times as if the suggestive words he used weren't enough to drive the point home.

"No, thanks." Inuyasha all but smashed the rest of his food in his mouth, knowing it would only buy him so long before he had to grumble once again about how he _didn't want to go out tonight_.

"How about this, if you agree to drag your sorry ass out with me for a good time, I'll buy all your drinks. Even with that demon-ish metabolism of yours. Dude, it's the _weekend_!" Miroku threw his hands up as if he couldn't fathom why Inuyasha wouldn't want to spend his precious time off with him in some crowded little dive bar.

He froze. The...weekend? The _weekend_.

Everything came to a halt in Inuyasha's mind then, honing in on those two words and nothing else.

"The weekend? As in...Friday?" he asked tentatively, trying to get a grip of himself before he lost it and ended up flipping the table occupied.

"Yeah man, Friday. Y'know? The start of the weekend, the day before Saturday, the day after Thurs-" he was cut off by a palm slamming down on the table a little more forcefully than intended.

"I know what fucking Friday is, asshole. I just meant that...it's just-" he paused, catching his breath. "I don't remember." There. He said it.

"You don't remember...what exactly?" Miroku enquired quietly, taking on the tone of a nurturing mother if he ever knew what that was like. So, probably not.

"I don't..." he scratched at his head uncomfortably. "The last thing I remember was coming in on Monday...and that's it. That's all. I don't know what the fuck has happened for the last four days." He dragged his claws through his ruffled bangs, looking every bit the man losing his mind.

"Hey... _hey_. Man, it's all good. You've been here the entire week if that helps at all." Miroku said, almost placatingly, as if this was your everyday occurrence. And it kind of was. Well, not _every_ day, but certainly enough to warrant such a blase attitude to it all.

"Really?" Inuyasha asked, incredulous.

"Of course, why would I lie about something like that?" Miroku rushed out, almost giving Inuyasha whiplash in the process. "Now, if you were to ask for my opinion-"

"I didn't."

"-then I would say you need a drink. A nice, strong drink that will help ease all the things swirling around in that pretty little head of yours. Besides, what kind of moron turns down free drinks?" Miroku beamed, a hint of a smile ghosting Inuyasha's features before he settled back in complacency. It was easier this way.

"Fine." It couldn't hurt to go out for once. This was his best friend after all, and they'd hardly spent any time together in the last few months outside of work. He'd suck it up and be a decent friend even if that meant drinking the guy under the table at his own expense.

"Fine?" Miroku pressed, leaning over the table like he's just won the best prize.

"Fine." He smirked -begrudgingly of course- wondering how the hell his friend hadn't given up on a complete mess like him long ago.

Inuyasha was lucky.

* * *

The bar had was as crowded as he suspected. The drinks were lukewarm from the overuse of the dishwasher, the air thick with sweat and other odours he didn't want to identify. Even in their work clothes, they blended into the crowd effortlessly. People from all walks of life huddled together in the tiny setting, dimmed and yet somehow bright with the neon lights glinting off the walls.

They'd been regulars at Mizu's since University, the place offering the kind of low key but not-too-shady reprieve that young men like themselves were looking for. Bordering the Red-Light District, desk jockeys and bruisers mixed easily here. Mizu's was the perfect mix of discreet and functional that suited their purposes fine- like getting really, really drunk.

As Inuyasha dragged himself to the front door, a shouty and frankly annoying Miroku trailing behind his as he wailed his goodbyes to the staff, he couldn't help but feel the utter relief of leaving this place. It wasn't that he didn't have a good time. It was just...

His train of thought halted as the muggy night air hit his nose upon exiting the bar. Sour like it always was, he resisted the urge to take a deep breath of fresh air. The air was never _fresh_.

Miroku stumbled out after him, making as much noise as he possibly could along the way before saddling up to Inuyasha and throwing his arm around him. "Ya know...yer great," he said, a matter of factly.

"Thanks." Inuyasha wasn't in the mood to bro down, his mind fogged and comfortably numbed by the too-strong drinks he'd been provided.

As they teetered along the dampened road heading back to their complex, it wasn't until they turned a corner that Miroku stopped dead in his tracks. Giving a low whistle, he pointed to the side of the road they'd been heading down, a leer on his face unmasked by intoxication. Fighting the urge to groan out loud, he turned his head towards whatever chick had caused his friend's attention to waver. It was always a chick. And there she was.

Sitting on top of a sleek-looking bike -too expensive to be from this part of town- was a young woman, tiny from what he could make out, decked out in some sort of catsuit that would have seemed out of place anywhere else. But this was Angel City; the fashion knew no bounds here. However, what caught his attention was the tumbling waves of black hair that fell down her back, blue almost against the city lights that perpetually brightened the streets. Her face was partially hidden by huge sunglasses, giving nothing away as she peered down at her interface.

She didn't fit. While there was nothing about her that screamed _"I don't belong here!"_ there was no denying that she seemed out of place. Plucked from whatever centrefold she lived in before and plopped down on the business district's dirty, wet streets for whatever reason.

Or perhaps, to be harassed by his best friend.

"Well, h-he _lloooo_ there...m'lady?" Miroku slurred, jolting Inuyasha back into reality as he realised his friend had escaped his clutches and slowly moved uneven feet towards the woman and her stead. Miroku tried to style it out but only succeeded in looking far more intoxicated than he was. "What're _you_ doin'?" _Smooth_.

Inuyasha grumbled inaudibly, already tired of the scene playing out that could only end in disaster. The guy had struck out more times than he could count while they were in the bar; he didn't have high hopes for him in this new environment.

She glanced towards them, apparently undisturbed by their appearance. Inuyasha wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Miroku stopped short suddenly, back straightening and causing Inuyasha to look towards him from his spot a few feet away from them.

"H-holy shit...Higurashi? _Kagome_ Higurashi?"

And there it was, the name that broke through his reverie and set his blood on fire. He turned then, focusing all of his senses on the slip of a girl perched atop the bike. She smiled then, a secret thing pulling at her lips, and looked to Miroku with a hint of amusement dancing across her features.

"Ah, Miroku. Still as sleazy as ever I see?" Her melodic voice, more mature than he remembered, floated to his ears, and that was when he knew.

It really _was_ her.

Taking a deep breath as discreetly as possible to try and discern her scent from the ones around her, he pinpointed it. There. Something fresh, something wild, something untamed. It was exactly as he remembered it and yet _better_ than he remembered it at the same time. He had never been able to rely solely on his memory, anyway. Now if only he didn't have the toxic fumes of the city clouding it and the one too many drinks dampening his senses, he'd be golden.

She cocked her head in his direction then, apparently locking eyes with him from behind her glasses. He wished they were gone so he could see if her eyes were as blue as he recalled. She smiled at him then, and his heart stopped, jarring him back into the present as he realised, utterly mortified, that he'd been standing there staring at her, mouth agape with an expression on his face that he didn't want to decipher.

He shut his mouth with an audible snap, looking for some form of a language he could speak to say something, _anything_ , to the absolute enigma in front of him. "Kago-"

Before he could utter her name, the door from the shop they were standing in front of burst open, a woman decked in similar attire rushing towards the girl on the motor. "Abort! Intel was a bust; they're not here!" The newcomer shouted, clambering onto the bike behind Kagome as gracefully as one could when moving so quickly. Before she had even settled, the motorcycle was roaring to life, ready to lead its riders into the night.

Inuyasha took a step forward, body acting on its own as he reached a hand out to say something, _say somethi_ -

Heat. Insane heat that he'd never felt in his life hit his back like a bullet metro, and before he could even think to brace himself, Inuyasha was lying face up, looking into the bright lights of the towering buildings above him. He coughed harshly, a motion that caused pain to sear through his entire body. Slowly, _so_ slowly, he pushed himself up into a seated position as he tried to take stock of what the _fuck_ just happened.

Dust, lots of it. Debris everywhere. The shrill sound of an alarm coming from where the shop was. Or, used to be, considering it was now a giant hole in the wall. Small licks of flames tried to stay alight here and there, caused by an explosion that no one could have seen coming. Or maybe, he could have seen coming if he hadn't been so sloshed.

He pushed himself to his feet on shaky legs when he realised Miroku had likely taken a good hit from the blast. Looking around himself at the chunks of stone, metal and glass that were intact but a moment ago, he felt the tell-tale pounding of an impending headache, drowning out the noise of the aftermath of a god damn _bomb_ going off on their street.

He stopped his search short and did a double-take. There, only a few inches from where he had landed was a jagged pile of scrap metal, jutting out of the road proudly amongst the rubble. He stared at it for longer than he should have. Knowing that if he had landed only a few short inches to the left, he would have been impaled and more than likely dead. He swallowed.

Inuyasha was lucky.

* * *

_Fin_

_Interface: a chip that most people have implanted living in this particular future setting. It's a common and fairly non-invasive procedure that gives the user a hologram type dashboard to use. It's often given to young teens by their parents as a right of passage. It projects an image for the user's eyes wherever the user is looking and can be shared with others if permission is granted. It's effectively replaced phones and any other type of device for networking or browsing._


	3. Chapter 2: Duplicity

_"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - George Orwell_

* * *

_He was crying. The sounds smells of his surroundings were overwhelming to his tiny nose and little ears. Men and women dressed in matching blue crowded around him, trying to soothe the distraught child. Huddled low on the floor, he trembled in fright as one of them tried to pry the red cloth he clutched to his small frame like a lifeline._

" _Where are your parents?"_

" _Where did you come from, little one?"_

" _What's your mama's name, boy?"_

_None of it made sense to him. He didn't understand why he was here, and he didn't have answers to the questions these strangers kept asking him. He buried his tear-stained face in the fabric he held so tightly, a familiar but misplaced scent washing through him as he tried to stop blubbering for a moment._

" _What's your name, honey?" One of the quieter women asked him. Her voice wasn't so scary._

_He sucked in a shuddering breath, one piece of information shining bright amongst the jumbled mess that was his thoughts, and he latched onto it—a name._

_He had a name._

" _...I-Inuyasha...my name's Inuyasha," he spoke shakily, voice small and worn from uncontrollable sobbing._

_The woman smiled down at him, sympathy swirling in her warm eyes as she slowly and tentatively wrapped her arms around him._

" _Well Inuyasha, let's see if we can figure out what you're doing here, hm?"_

* * *

He woke with a start -because when the _fuck_ didn't he- a light sheen of sweat covering him as his body heaved. Wakefulness consumed him as he quickly pushed down the images of the dream that had decided to plague him that night. It was a dream that crept up on him infrequently, some twisted form of the day that he'd seemingly dropped out of the sky and landed in a dingy old police department, no parents and no knowledge of any previous life he'd lived. Nearly two decades later and still, he was haunted.

He pushed himself out of bed to go about his morning routine; not too long, and he'd forget the imagery anyway. Noting the time illuminated in the corner of the window opposite his bed, he made his way into the en-suite, lights automatically turning on as he entered. Standing before the sink, his hand was heavy as he waved it over the sensor that triggered his mirror image. He stared at the reflection the met him.

Well, if he didn't look like _shit_. Dark circles stood out under his eyes, skin ashen from...what _was_ that? He lifted a hand to his face, passing clawed fingers over his cheek as a fine layer of grime came away from his skin. Dust? He was covered in...

Widened eyes darted back to his reflection, fragments of the night before crashing back into his memory. The explosion. The _bomb_. The two girls on a bike unlike any he had ever seen that seemed to be the cause of it all.

 _Kagome_.

He rushed from the bathroom then, intent on finding... _something_. The sliding door that led to his living room opened silently as he approached it, the scent of his best friend hitting him full force as he entered the room. Small traces of blood lingered with it. Fuck, he had been hurt.

He instantly spotted Miroku asleep on the pullout, blissfully unaware of the frantic man bursting onto the scene. Relief washed over him as he gauged he was in one piece. At least they had that going for them. Inuyasha loomed over Miroku as he slumbered, hand grasping the shoulder closest to him to shake him awake.

"Oi. _Oi._ Wake up," he ordered, loud enough to jostle the sleeping man into a sudden fit of sputtering.

"Wh- _what_?!" Miroku flinched, head darting up and eyes swirling at the rude wake-up call.

"Get up, idiot. We need to talk about last night," taking a seat on the smooth armchair that sat adjacent to the couch, Inuyasha waited impatiently for Miroku to gain consciousness.

"Last...night?" a beat, a slow blink, "holy _shit_ , that explosion!" Miroku scrambled up without grace, sheet twisting around his legs as he tried to arrange himself.

"Yeah, _that explosion_. What the fuck happened after? I don't remember us getting back here," crossing his arms over his chest, Inuyasha grimaced. He wasn't _that_ drunk.

"Uh...right. Right," Miroku ran a hand over his face, finally finding a comfortable position after battling with the textiles, "we...you grabbed me not long after it happened, I'd hit my head...could've been worse. Um...officers arrived pretty quickly, but by the time they did there were so many people around we just...left. No one tried to stop us either, so we ended up back here and we just...crashed?"

Inuyasha looked at him then.

"We crashed?"

"Y-yeah."

"We just...came back here and went to sleep?"

" _Yes_."

"After being blown halfway across the street by a _bomb_?"

"That's about right," Miroku didn't look quite so convinced himself.

"What the _fuck_?" Inuyasha jumped to his feet, stopping short when he realised he didn't know what he wanted to do. Storming over to the floor to ceiling window, he rested his forehead against the cool glass, eyes flitting across the twinkling lights. He tried to digest what was frankly an _absurd_ reaction they seemed to have to a bomb going off in their little slice of life. None of it made sense. The image of a girl in skin-tight clothing overrode it all.

"Was that seriously Kagome _fucking_ Higurashi sitting in front of that shop before it went off?"

"Oh... _oh_ shit, yeah! Fuck, I mean, what are the _chances_? Didn't she get shipped off to some fancy school right before we finished high school? Unless it was a clone or _skin_ or something which would be super weird and unlikely...but that wouldn't make sense because she knew _my_ name..." Miroku trailed off, glancing up before stopping his stream of consciousness. A fleeting look of worry crossed his features, and he coughed awkwardly, hoping to dispel the tension his suddenly changed demeanour caused. Jumping to his feet with the sheet in his arms, Miroku smacked the gleaming button on the side of the couch that drew the pull out back into its original position without pause.

Inuyasha stared at him. Hard. He pondered the look that passed over his friends face a moment ago. Why did he look so... _so_... his head was starting to hurt. So, he moved on. Like he always did- it was easier that way. Pushing himself off the glass, he moved purposefully into his bedroom to get ready for the day ahead without another word.

He still had things to do after all.

* * *

Inuyasha stepped onto the heated flooring, and the overhead nozzle of his shower kicked in, glass partition sliding from its space nestled into the wall. Pre-set to the perfect temperature, he moved under the water as he was enclosed and let it flow over his aching muscles. Or rather, muscles that _should_ have been aching given the previous night's events. But he wasn't about to consider his dumb luck.

Reaching out to the small auto-tap that dispensed his body wash, he began to scrub his skin of the lingering scent of smoke and ash and gunpowder and _her_. It wasn't there though, not really. Her scent was just a phantom.

Bracing a hand against the sleek wall, Inuyasha closed his eyes, a sigh escaping him as memories of that girl -a _woman_ now- filled his mind. His head was starting to throb, but he pushed through the feeling, wanting desperately to put the pieces together and make some sense of his jumbled thoughts, futile as that was. So, he started with what he _knew_.

He hadn't seen her in years—almost 6 to be exact if his memory could be trusted, which it very well couldn't be. Miroku was right, she'd always been meant for great things after high school, so when she was accepted into a prestigious University in another city, it came as no surprise. Not to him anyway. That didn't stop the pang in his chest as he remembered the moment he'd learned of her departure.

It wasn't an everyday occurrence for people to leave Angel City. Far from it, in fact. The cost alone was immense and usually came with knowing the right person. The journeys between the few places on earth that still stood were treacherous and infrequent. For a while, rumours swirled around the true nature of her disappearance because it was just so _unheard of_. But soon, everyone moved on—everyone except him, apparently.

She was a quiet thing back then. They'd ended up at same high school but never really moved in the same circles. He was always...distracted by something else. Or _someone_ else. He'd be the first to admit that he hadn't noticed her those first few years. She was so damn _tiny_ and blended into the crowds of the overstuffed halls so easily, especially amongst peers who were perpetually ' _finding themselves_ ' in a world that allowed you to change your look at the drop of a hat.

But in their final year, when everyone was starting to grow up and get over their awkward, dramatic years that made teenagers so _teenaged_ , something happened. He started noticing her. She'd never bowed to the pressure of augmenting oneself, regardless of how easy it would be. Beautiful, in all her natural and tiny glory. She was just... _Kagome_. And somehow, she had noticed _him_. They'd spoken a few times; there was this _energy_ between them that he couldn't quite identify. There was a moment not long before she left where he thought that _maybe_ they were on the cusp of something...

His hand slid from the wall as he tilted his head, letting the warm water fall down his back as he stopped his thoughts from going further in that direction. Because nothing had _actually_ happened, she was just gone one day-a few weeks before graduation- leaving without so much as a goodbye to anyone, not even those three girls she was always with. She was offered a scholarship and whisked away, likely to never return to this hell hole, never to be seen again.

He thought about her sometimes, usually when he was feeling particularly sorry for himself. He hated it. They had hardly known each other, not really. A few short months of crushing were hardly long enough for him to taunt her ghost so many years later. He didn't even think about his _ex_ like that, not any more. And yet, the _what-if_ of it all had his blood boiling at the most inopportune times. He knew it was ridiculous to be so hung up on a girl he hadn't even dated. Had almost, _maybe_ dated. That had to be it, the _unknown_ that had him wondering.

And though he'd never tell a soul, he'd looked her up a few times over the years to see what had become of her. She had become the doctor she had always dreamed of being, living and working halfway across the world. Halfway across the world from him. But none of that mattered anymore, because the image of the girl he'd painted for himself clearly didn't exist. Not after last night, if that really _was_ her.

He banished the image of that fantasy girl and in her place stood a terrorist waiting in the shadows. She wasn't the girl he remembered from years ago, and the likelihood of seeing her again was slim to none in a city of 7 billion, not unless she decided the bot-chop-shop on the corner was also in need of renovations.

Because as unlikely as it seemed, Kagome _fucking_ Higurashi was back and she was blowing up his city.

* * *

Stepping through the bullet train doors, Inuyasha moved to the side of the door and stood, ears flicking under his hood as the trill of the speakers cut through him. It wouldn't be long before his journey was up; there was no need to take a seat. It wasn't particularly busy for a Saturday morning, public transport usually being stuffed to the brim with people on weekends looking for some reprieve from their daily lives. His nose was glad for the respite.

Glancing up and out the window, he tried to peek the grey skies that barely snuck through the buildings above. He scowled at the glaring lights and colours that shone through the glass, advertising anything and everything his city had to offer. It was always lost on him. He had no need for an all-singing-all-dancing housekeeper-bot. He had no want for cybernetic upgrades that would turn his brain into a living computer. He had no time for the thrills of living in the 24th century, only opting to receive his interface when he was 13. It was near impossible to make it by without one, but it was all he needed. He had his demonic heritage -however strong it was- to thank for that.

While it wasn't uncommon to spot those with high demonic potency wandering around Angel City, it was hardly the norm. Hundreds of years of thinning bloodlines as prejudice and segregation became a thing of the past had seen to that. People were free to love who they loved, and so the inevitable happened. Citizens with trace amounts of demonic blood were everywhere, giving the too-damp air a constant _thrum_ of youki that was easily ignored when you became acclimatised, for those who could sense it, at least.

Demonic origins or not, individualism was non-existent. As fashion and culture began to snowball into obscurity, at some point, the concept of race became inconsequential to the masses. Any look could be achieved in the time they were living in, and those that were here to tell the tale took advantage of it. Inuyasha supposed this helped him blend in, to an extent.

His ears were often mistaken for enhancements, because _'they're so cute'_. His fangs were assumed to be some type of fetish, as if he'd added them to use for reasons other than he was simply born with them. The long silver hair that he kept tied back more often than not was always a topic of conversation, but he'd never offer the knowledge that it grew long no matter how often he cut it. The gold of his eyes, so unnatural and rare even amongst the endless possibilities of eye colours, were often seen as a status symbol. As if he were _rich_ or something. He shifted uncomfortably at the thought. It was easier to just let people assume, though it didn't always sit right. Living comfortably didn't come easily to anyone in Angel City. Not to those born without affluence.

He looked up then, taking in the towering skyscrapers that reached hundreds of floors into the sky. There was a reason this place was called Angel City, and it wasn't a representation of its population. The colossal heights the structures reached had earned them that, peaking so high towards the heavens that their pinnacles could never be seen, even on one of those rare clear days. There were people up there, people who had never touched their feet to the ground of the planet they called home. It was easy for them; meandering through the skies from building to building was simple when transport was so effective. Bullet trains not unlike the one he was on at that moment moved smoothly, silently and quickly through the skies, suspended as they carried bodies to and fro with precision. Private cars hovered here and there, often serving only those of importance.

He scoffed. Yeah, it sure was easy for them.

Within mere minutes of his departure, he was at his stop. Disembarking and making his way through the terminal, Inuyasha moved with practised steps. He'd taken this route most Saturdays for the last six years, ever since he'd left this run-down old neighbourhood to live in University accommodation. And now, he had his own place. A much nicer place than he would have been able to afford had he not landed his current job straight out of school. His very own home that was his and only _his_. If you didn't take into account that it was gifted to him upon accepting his position at Taisho Corp.

Pushing the nagging thought down -because it just _nagged_ at him- he exited the station, feet carrying him along the suspended platform that would lead him to the place he used to call home. Ignoring the colourful characters that went about their day, Inuyasha failed to notice the sights around him; eyes, ears and nose focused on his path as he moved quickly about the rainy streets.

Stopping upon a small opening nestled between a few shops, he walked past the piles of junk and old tech that littered the tiny alleyway. Lit up with glowing signage, a door stood out amongst the gloomy setting. He punched a code into the panel to the left of the door and entered, jogging up the stairs that were situated in the doorway. Having to walk up flights of stairs wasn't a common occurrence in his neck of the woods, the quality of life between now and then always doing its job of reminding him never to get too comfortable where he was. Once he reached the floor he was headed to, he inhaled. Good, the old man had cooked.

The clattering of pans and soft curses met his ears as he entered the small and dingy studio, nose leading him to the kitchenette that sat at the far end of the glorified room. Hovering over an old-style burner stood Totosai, sputtering at the meal he was cooking as if it had personally wronged him.

"Old man," he greeted, taking a seat at the small bar that separated the kitchen from the living area.

" _Ah_! W-what?!" Oops. He probably shouldn't have startled the poor old guy. He made a note to make an unnecessary amount of noise next time.

Totosai's wide and unclear eyes darted around as he spun on uneven legs, ladle raised as an improvised weapon to take on the intruder. He settled his gaze on an unimpressed Inuyasha and paused...before bringing it down swiftly on the young man's head.

" _Ow._ What the fuck was that for?" he grumbled, rubbing the sore spot with a wince.

"For sneaking around, dumb boy! You should eat more, then you'll get _fat_ , and I can hear you coming! Stupid...of all the... _idiot_ child... _fuck..._ " Totosai trailed off, returning to his pot of mysteries and virtually ignoring his guest.

Inuyasha sighed, taking in the state of the studio around him. It was cleaner than he had expected, although clean was hardly the word for it. Time hadn't been too kind to Totosai. As his mind deteriorated, so did his ability to look after himself. His little studio -the one that Inuyasha had spent a good decade of his life living in- was a bit worse for wear these days. They'd never lived in luxury, but it was theirs. And now it seemed that Totosai wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer. Or keep anything up, for that matter.

He swallowed down the rising guilt that built in his gut. Once a week wasn't enough to visit the man that had essentially raised him. But he couldn't afford any more time.

"You gonna let me buy a bot for this place yet?" he mumbled, looking around at the unkempt space. Clothes littered the floor, instant food containers scattered across surfaces. Old and faulty tech seemed to spew out of the walls, adding to the picture he painted of ' _crazy old man_ '.

"A what? No..no, what do I need one of those for? They eat _far_ too much!" Totosai rambled, spiralling quickly at the suggestion.

"They don't eat anything, you mad bastard. It would do the things that you don't want to do, like _clean_ ," to emphasize, he tapped an old cup of instant noodles that sat on the bar next to him.

"Bah, don't need that. Besides, there'd be less ramen for us to eat if they took up all the room."

And there it was. The point where the conversation would die because there as nothing he could say to that. While Totosai served his creation into the two bowls he'd set aside, Inuyasha's eyes lingered on his movements. Conversing with Totosai was a constant uphill battle. Already old by the time he'd found Inuyasha, he hadn't always been so blatantly neurotic; not when he'd first come into his care. But as the years went on, it was clear that his guardian lacked a screw or two. It was no wonder few people had time for him. He was stubborn, bull-headed and downright bat shit _crazy_.

Totosai slid the bowl over to his guest, sloshing the contents unceremoniously before mumbling something under his breath. Taking a test whiff, Inuyasha found it to be acceptable and tucked in. Sometimes there would be... _interesting_ additives in Totosai's food. He didn't often cook and usually saved the occasion for his weekly visits with Inuyasha, opting for the ease of access when he was living on his own once more. There was something about the old man shouting at his pots and pans that warmed Inuyasha's otherwise cold disposition. It was a ridiculous image, but one that he found comfort in.

Especially when he had few things to comfort him these days.

* * *

"Hold it," a hand shot out, pressing against Inuyasha's chest to stop him in his tracks. He looked up to see a Street Cop decked out in their usual over the top regalia, his partner standing behind him as they both peered at him with interest, "ID check."

The officer held up a biometric scanner, a bright flash blinding him momentarily before he could protest the handling. Depositing the pen device back into his breast pocket, the officer perused his personal interface as Inuyasha's credentials loaded into the space only he could see.

"Inuyasha Takahashi?" he spoke, questioning his identity as if the photo he would have been looking at didn't match the person standing in front of him.

"Obviously. What's this about?" he knew random ID checks on the street weren't exactly standard, not without just cause.

"Just some routine checks. You seen the news lately, kid?" the Officer was rifling through his information, getting every last detail of Inuyasha's existence that had been recorded. It made his skin crawl.

"Says here you work at Taisho Corp. What're you doing in this part of town?"

"Visiting family."

"Ah, yes...a Totosai Takahashi? Says he lives around here. He's your guardian?"

"You're literally reading the information right now. You don't need me to confirm," this was getting ridiculous. A strange night was now turning into a strange couple of days. He shuffled on his feet, wanting desperately to get home so he could...do something that wasn't _this_.

The Officer shifted his eyes to him then. Perhaps a little too slowly, his eyes scanned over Inuyasha's face, taking in his features before resting on the claw-tipped fingers that jutted out from his crossed arms.

"Enhancements? Says here you don't have _any,_ " the faintest of smiles crossed the officers face. It made him so, _so_ uncomfortable.

"That's because I don't. Born like this," thank fuck he'd thought to pull his hood up before heading to the terminal. His ears certainly wouldn't help whatever this situation was.

" _Really_ now?" he leaned closer then, his partner moving in tandem with him, "you must have demon blood in there then."

"Uh...yeah." _Wonderful_. This was precisely the kind of conversation he wanted to be having on a Saturday night. Hashing out the details of how he didn't know where the fuck he came from with an officer in the rain.

"Hmm...ah, _orphan,"_ well fucking duh, that was the whole point of having a guardian, "I see. Did you know your parents at all?"

"Look, is this actually going anywhere or are we just having a friendly chat? Because if you have no reason to keep me, I have somewhere to be," there was no way he would be divulging what little he know of his life with this dick. Street Cops were there for a purpose; harassing AC's citizens over their parentage wasn't one of them. They had access to more information than would appear on his public profile, and clearly, these two were abusing that power. He would know, part of his job was making sure guys like these didn't go unchecked.

The two officers looked at him, a beat passing as they took him in again. At that moment, Inuyasha thought they might try something with him. The hair on the back of his neck stood, and he felt himself tensing, waiting for their response. Something didn't sit right.

"Nope, no reason. We'll be seeing you," and with that, the officer waved his hand, dismissing him and moving to the side.

Perplexed, Inuyasha tutted as he moved passed them, briefly considering getting their ID numbers and looking into them at work the next day. He decided against it, carrying on in the terminal's direction so he could _finally_ go home.

He was on edge the entirety of short distance to the station. It may have only been a few seconds, but the walk felt like an eternity, his stride agitated as he felt a foreboding he couldn't place. Crossing the platform that led to the terminal entryway, he looked back in the direction that the nosy Cops had stopped him and staggered as he came to a halt.

They were still standing there. Surely, that wouldn't have made his stomach turn under normal circumstances. But these weren't normal circumstances.

They were watching him.

* * *

_Fin_

_Skin- and overlay that can be projected onto a person like a second skin. Usually comes with some symbol or 'tell' that lets people know it's not a real image, often the creator's logo. Skin's glitch-out when picked up by cameras to deter misidentification._


	4. Chapter 3: Paradigm Shift

" _How nice - to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive." Kurt Vonnegut_

* * *

Walking into his living room to find his best friend once again crashing on his couch caused an audible groan to leave Inuyasha's throat. He'd woken up on the wrong side of the bed _as usual_ , and while it wasn't uncommon to find Miroku loitering, he wanted to find the peace and quiet that only solitude could give him. It looked like his wish wouldn't be granted.

Inuyasha sauntered passed his slumbering guest and into the sectioned off kitchen, heading over to the console that sat near his dining booth. As he approached it, the console booted up, loading with a plethora of options for him to choose from. Taking his pick and confirming the transaction, he waited as the fabricator to the left of the console went about its work. Seconds later, a melodic ding went off, and the front panel slid open, revealing the black coffee he desperately needed and a cup of rehydrated noodles that always did the trick.

He needed to work on his stealth because not a moment later, Miroku entered the kitchen, hair mussed and clothes askew from sleep.

"Yo," he said, shuffling over to the console Inuyasha had just used a moment ago and helped himself.

" _Yo_. You ever gonna start living in your own place? Ya know, the one that is _three floors_ below mine?" necking the rest of his coffee, Inuyasha tried in vain to not look as annoyed as he felt.

"Not when _you're_ the breadwinner." Miroku mumbled, tapping 'Confirm' on his choice and draining Inuyasha's account of more money.

"We literally have the same job."

"Uh...right. Yeah," Miroku slid into the nook across from Inuyasha with his breakfast, rubbing his hands over his eyes aggressively to try and fight off the fatigue that plagued him.

"What?"

"What?" Ah, but Miroku's face was the picture of innocence at that moment. They stared at each other for a beat before Miroku turned back to his food, leaving Inuyasha to watch him perplexed. Miroku would never be considered a morning person, but he usually made _sense_ at the very least.

Still, not the weirdest thing to have happened in the last few days.

"You got any plans today?" Miroku inquired, taking a massive bite out of the sandwich he was holding and pointedly keeping his eyes away from his friend.

Inuyasha kept quiet for a moment, pondering if he should just be honest and tell Miroku to get the fuck out so he could breathe for once or make up some excuse to get rid of him. The latter always won, the former usually ending in an interrogation he couldn't be bothered with at the moment.

"Got a few errands to run."

Miroku looked up from the food that had occupied him. A moment passed. If he didn't believe him, he kept his mouth shut.

* * *

A few hours later, Inuyasha decided his aimless wandering around was sufficient enough and he could head back to his apartment, free of company. Finding things to do in Angel City wasn't hard for the average citizen, but he was anything but average. He barely took in the sights and sounds as he travelled, letting the thump of his feet hitting the ground set a rhythm he could focus on. Fortunately for him, no shady street cops seemed to take notice of him this time.

Once he was safely tucked away in his home, away from the hustle and bustle he was hardly aware of, Inuyasha walked the short distance to the window that took up the far side of his home. It was the one feature of this place that he would miss if it were suddenly taken away from him. While he didn't much care for the endless structures that coated the landscape, he loved being able to see the slivers of sky that sneaked through overhead even if they weren't all that nice to look at.

His apartment was located relatively high in the complex that housed many of his co-workers, as luck would have it. He wouldn't have complained otherwise, but he certainly wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Finding accommodation that wasn't falling apart and didn't cost an arm and a leg was a rarity, and he'd been bestowed it without much effort on his part.

Again, there was that uncomfortably raw guilt that he felt whenever he compared his situation to the masses. It wasn't that he was an outlier- far from it. It wasn't as if he was living in the lap of luxury. He was comfortable. And he just felt _bad_.

Slumping ever so slightly, Inuyasha went to move onto the couch to vegetate for the rest of the night when a gleam in the corner of his eye stopped him.

Peeking out from behind a towering building ever so slightly, was the sun. He marvelled, a small rush of excitement building in him that he relished. He was never excited about anything these days, so he took that feeling and grabbed onto it with everything he had. Seeing the star their planet orbited was definitely something to be revered.

With Earth's climate in utter disarray, the skies were often grey and clouded over with endless rain that left the streets damp and the people miserable. The sun that provided them with life didn't show itself often, a muted glow taking over the skies during daylight hours before disappearing unnoticed. The neon lights of Angel City were constant, staining everything they touched. He'd once read that people could tell the time by the position of the sun in the past. He couldn't imagine living in a world like that.

He wondered what it would bee like to see the world around him without the all glaring lights as he watched that bright ball of fire retreat beyond the obtrusive horizon. Wondered what it would be like just to turn the lights out and enjoy these small glimpses of nature that now seemed to be the makings of a fantasy world. He'd never seen a blackout before. Not a _real_ one anyway.

Embittered, he mourned; the small moment of joy disintegration as fast as it has appeared. He didn't have to wonder what that was like since his brain did enough shutting down for him. He watched as the lights never faded, the perpetual illumination from the world outside his window lulling him into a thoughtless drowse.

* * *

" _Watch it."_

_Jostled, Inuyasha turned his head towards the girl hanging from his arm to gauge the interruption as they made their way down the halls of their high school._

" _S-sorry," a meek little voice croaked as he craned around Kikyou's head to peer down at the offender._

_A slight sneer crossed his girlfriend's face as she stared down at the petite girl who had bumped into her. It was a face he didn't like seeing on her. It didn't suit her._

" _I didn't mean to-" The girl began before being cut off._

" _Leave it Kikyou. It's not a big deal." The young girl looked up at him then, and he absent-mindedly noticed the striking blue of her eyes, widening as she looked up at him. Cute._

_Kikyou turned to him, remembering her place at his side as she graced him with a smile that always had his gut clenching and his knees weak. She plastered herself against him once more, and they carried on down the corridor, leaving the flustered girl in their wake as they clung to each other ardently._

* * *

An acute awareness of his surroundings brought Inuyasha back into the land of the living as he tried to get his body to catch up with his mind. _Fuck_ if he wasn't feeling sluggish today. He didn't quite remember going to bed last night, but that wasn't unusual. The grogginess was what threw him. It seemed waking up would be a slow process for him on that particular Monday.

After what felt like an eternity, Inuyasha was showered and in the process of getting ready for work when he noticed the open pill bottle on his bedside table. The lid was lying idle next to the bottle, completely useless. Rushing over, he grabbed the bottle and emptied the pills onto his palm, counting and recounting. _Shit_.

If he wasn't mistaken, a few more than he was prescribed had made it into his system last night. He slid on heavy legs to sit on the bed, trying to recall some sort of imagery from the night before. But he couldn't. He never could when he actually _needed_ to remember something, like how many of these stupid _mind-numbing_ pills he had taken. They were supposed to help and yet, here he was.

It was the snake eating its own tail.

Inuyasha surged to his feet, feeling a foreign sense of anger that had him reeling on the spot.  
He tossed the pill bottle and it's contents, a resounding smack echoed off the walls as they scattered around his bedroom. He was so fucking _tired_ of it all.

He was faintly aware of the light rolling of a pill that had made it further than the rest. The _tickticktick_ of the little oval bastard suddenly deafening him, drowning out every sound and sight other than itself. An ear flicked once, twice.

He acted impulsively, launching himself forward and slamming his closed fist into the wall in front of him. He hung there, breathing heavily, eyes unfocused on the floor. He was just so fucking _angry_. Angry at his situation, angry that he couldn't get a decent night's sleep without medicating, angry that he could barely remember anything long term about his stupid mundane life. He had a name, a job, an _existence_ goddammit and he couldn't say anything about it other than what could easily be found on any network.

Inuyasha was slowly drowning, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He pushed himself off the wall and baulked when he felt his hand scrape against something sharp. Looking up to see what had caused the sudden pain, he blinked. And blinked again.

Where there used to be the smooth, shiny metal that made up the walls of the majority of his home, there was now a hole. A big, glaring _fist-sized_ hole where his hand had slipped through it like butter in his rage. The twisted metal that had bent inwards snagged at his wrist, the dark red of his blood tingeing the jagged edges. He knew he was strong but...nothing like _this_.

In disbelief, he raised his hand to his face, staring at the trickle of blood that made it's way slowly down his wrist and towards his elbow. The coppery scent burned his nose on each inhale, bringing an intense feeling of _something_ he couldn't name to the surface. His other hand raised to catch a droplet that had escaped and to trail over his palm, the dull thud of his heart intensifying as his senses honed in on the warm liquid that seemed to consume him entirely.

Perhaps, if he just held his hand like _so_...

Before he could explore whatever it was he was doing, a sharp pain blossomed behind his eyes that had him clutching his head and stumbling back onto the bed. Unceremoniously he collapsed, willing the pounding of his heart to steady as he ground his teeth through the pain.

Was he having a fucking _heart attack_ or something? He was far too young for that; he knew that medical records showed perfect health regarding his physiology. What little they knew of it anyway. He didn't get _sick_ per se...

Cursing every living entity under the sun that blessed him with his fate, Inuyasha threw himself from the room. He shoved his feet into his shoes and barely waited for the auto-laces to engage before heading to the front door. He smacked the panel that opened it, failing to notice the sparks and smoke that burst from it upon his exit.

He didn't know what was happening to him lately, but like every Monday, he had to get to work.

* * *

The commute to Taisho Corp. was short, the complex that housed a good chunk of its employees only a few short metro stops away. It was convenient as most things were in his life, allowing him to leave at the very last minute when he needed to get moving. It wasn't that he necessarily hated his job. It was _boring_ yes, but it was a good position that offered a lot in compensation. It was _unfulfilling_ , yes, but he knew when he chose to study Computer Genetics and Ethical Hacking that any career path he took would likely be stale at best. And it was a _far cry_ from what he wanted to be doing, but he didn't even know what that was. _Wanting_ had left him in the lurch countless times before, a fickle feeling that he dutifully ignored, even if he didn't do it very well.

The doors to his right opened smoothly, breaking him from his thoughts as he exited the metro and moved amongst the crowd. Faces he didn't recognise surrounded him, scents that conflicted with each other assaulted his nose from every direction. Human, demon, metal, plastic and silicone were a nauseating mix at the best of times, but these few minutes each time he came to and from work, sardined in with the endless people that filled the terminals had his stomach turning with a force that nearly had him doubling over.

Inuyasha brushed past a few people with a little more force than he should have, letting the breath he always held out as the sight of the exit barrelled towards him. Breathing slowly through his mouth, he walked briskly towards the direction of his office building, counting the steps in his head as his feet lead him. Only a few more and he'd be in the clear.

Approaching the monstrous entryway to his workplace, Inuyasha paused briefly as a scanner bot threw itself in his path, a faint light emitting from its bulbous eye as it scanned his retinas to identify him.

"Welcome back, Mr Takahashi. Hope your weekend was a pleasant one." The robot hovered smoothly to his side, the light twinkle of its automated voice offering pleasantries it didn't mean. Path cleared, he proceeded through the huge glass doors, a massive sigh of relief leaving him as he went to the elevator that would take him to his floor.

If his sense of smell weren't so damn _strong_ , he'd have an easier time making it into work every day. But that wasn't the case, because he took in every single nuance of the scents around him in excruciating detail. He wasn't sure exactly how strong his demonic heritage was, but it had to take up a good chunk of the blood in his veins; if his ears were anything to go by. Or, the name that he bore, the only thing he had of his life before Totosai. That and the dusty red robe that sat in a box at the back of his closet shunned away for all the terrible feelings it brought him.

It was unusual for Inuyasha to be reminiscing like this on his way to his work station, the commute usually a blip on the radar of his day as he moved from A to B. But if the weekend he'd just endured was anything to go by, _usual_ was hardly something to be expected at the moment.

Kicking the leg of his chair out from under his desk and plopping down on the synthetic fabric, Inuyasha went about setting up his workspace for the day ahead. He tapped the icon on the lip of desk, a hologram lighting the space before him as his dashboard loaded seamlessly. Tapping another icon, a smooth slab of acrylic shifted from his desk, tilting up at an angle and lighting up with his keyboard. Logging into his account and glancing half-heartedly at the day's tasks, Inuyasha set about getting his work done.

He was on company time after all.

* * *

"Who the fuck are you?"

The tiny brunette sitting in the chair that was usually occupied by his therapist was an unwelcome sight. It was bad enough that he had to take an hour out of every Monday to _talk_ to someone, especially at work, but the idea of someone new being brought into the fold caused his heckles to rise and discomfort to swirl in his gut. If something could just go _right_ for once...

"Oh, Mr Takahashi!" The petite woman rose to her feet, tone bright and unmoved by the rude interruption. "Hello, my name is Rin Aoki, and I'll be taking over for Dr Fujiwara. He discussed his departure with you last week?" A placating smile graced her features, one that had him wanting to wipe it off her stupid, _unfamiliar_ face.

"When the fuck did that happen? He hasn't said shit to me about it!" This was bad. He couldn't handle the stress of letting a stranger in when he'd only just become somewhat comfortable with his unwanted therapist. _Ex_ -therapist.

"He spoke with you about it at your last session, Monday last week?" The lilt of a question hung in the air at the end of her sentence. He didn't like this girl. Not one bit.

 _Monday_ last week. When he'd come into work and the rest of the week was just _gone_. Fuck. He'd completely forgotten about his extended blackout with his strange encounters from the last two days. He shouldn't have, considering the entire point of these weekly meetings were to get to the root cause of said issues.

"R-right. Uh..." He scratched at his scalp, looking for an escape that would mean he wouldn't have to go into detail, wouldn't have to overshare with the pitying woman before him. "Must've slipped my mind."

 _Convincing_.

Her gaze warmed to him then, a reaction he was sure her profession had imprinted upon her. For all the advancements in the world, the hurdle of understanding and healing one's psyche was still wrought with uncertainty. The state of the world they were living in had seen to that.

"If you'd like to take a seat, we can get started. I don't expect you to feel comfortable with me immediately; anything you'd like to talk about is up to you. Or, we can just chat and get to know each other. Whatever works best for you, Mr Takahashi." She settled herself back into her seat, waiting for him to take his place on the lounge opposite from her.

He hesitated for a moment, considering sprinting from the room and getting as far away from the unassuming creature that had barged her way into his life. The thought was fleeting, the time he took out of his day to come to the upper floors of Taisho Corp. a _gracious_ gesture from his employers to see that his health remained a priority.

He gingerly sat on the chaise, awkward in his own skin as he thought about what to do with his legs, his hands... _fuck_ , how do you sit on one of these-

A giggle ripped through his internalising, drawing his attention back the presence of his shiny new therapist. Grumbling in embarrassment, he arranged himself in what he was sure –what he hoped- was the picture of nonchalance. He could pretend, at least.

"So...how has your day been so far?"

And thus started the longest hour of his life, a mixture of awkward _'getting to know you'_ questions that had him hating every moment and little hints here and there that she knew more about him than two strangers would have under normal circumstances. It was apparent she'd looked over his files, getting every detail of his time recorded with Dr Fujiwara. Every nitty-gritty detail of his constant memory loss, dissociative behaviours, and an inability to deal with the repercussions without pumping his system full of drugs.

Despite the nurturing attitude of the woman - _girl_ , really- that would be taking up an hour of his time every Monday as well as her careful avoidance of anything that might trigger him, he couldn't help the feeling of being on display. That she was analysing every little move, sound and possibly even _thought_ he made to an almost offensive degree.

The nagging feeling of being watched tickled the back of Inuyasha's mind, the unease of the situation lighting his nerves on fire. He willed the feeling away as he made his way back down to his floor and away from that woman, knowing that paranoia wasn't a symptom he was looking to add to the already long list that he owned.

Settling himself back into his position at his desk, he glanced to the left in Miroku's direction, only slightly unnerved to find his friend was already staring at him. A look he couldn't decipher passed over Miroku's face before the telltale friendly smile he'd come to know blossomed across his features.

It was doing him no good questioning every little thing around him. For nearly a year and a half, Inuyasha had managed to keep his head down and do his job without fuss. He'd be able to do that again, he was sure of it.

Putting his metaphorical blinders back on, Inuyasha logged into his account and went to work, tapping away at the keyboard and slowly sinking back into obscurity.

* * *

He saw them before anyone else, it seemed. The wide elevator doors opened up onto the floor that held the open-plan office, and three dark figures stood at attention; a stark contrast from the suits milling about in front of them. They stepped out with purpose, heads held high as they took in the picturesque scene before them.

Inuyasha gaped at the trio from his place at his desk. His eyes gravitated to the one on the left, widening comically as if he couldn't believe what he saw because he _couldn't_.

There was Kagome, decked out in a plethora of combat gear the likes of which he had never seen, a giant bow slung across her back and a _huge as_ s gun held firmly in her arms. Glasses covered a large portion of her face, but there was no mistaking it -that was her. If only his brain could process what his eyes were seeing.

The one in the middle –he recognised her as the girl that blew the tiny shop to pieces before high tailing it- raised her gun above her head. Without preamble, she shot a round of energised bullets into the ceiling above her, effectively putting a stop to any work that may have been going on.

Chaos ensued.

* * *

_Fin_


	5. Chapter 4: Cognizance

_"Is there anything more heartbreaking than drowning in the sight of land? Is there a single one of us who hasn't at least once felt haunted by the fear of slipping away within sight of a safe haven?" - Carsten Jensen_

* * *

If there was ever a time Inuyasha truly cursed his superior hearing, it was in that very moment. The screams were deafening, the abruptness of people scrambling in fright cutting through his ears like a knife. As the sounds of gunfire filled the usually hushed space once more, chairs flew and bodies collided with each other in their frenzy as the situation became clear.

There was an attack on Taisho Corp.

Like a shockwave, the scatter was immediate. Groups piled into the conference rooms at the far end of the gargantuan room while some took the liberty to storm down the stairwell placed _only for emergencies._ Those who were too terrified to make a break for it barricaded themselves under their desks, allowing the all-consuming feeling of mass hysteria to get the better of them.

The three women decked out in armour and weaponry galore appeared unmoved by the scene they caused, merely waiting for the ruckus to die down. An eerie quiet took over the room for a small, insignificant blip in time, Inuyasha's ears flattening to his head as he could _hear_ the blood pumping through his veins.

Something inside Inuyasha snapped. A small spark went off in his brain, so tiny and timid in amongst all the white noise. A spark that he wanted to nurture and care for and _bring to life_. A foreign sense of calm came over him, turning his limbs into lead and forcing his mind into limbo. Barely aware of his actions, Inuyasha's fingers began to glide over the acrylic of his keyboard faster than his brain could keep up with.

There was a faint shout in the distance, the disjointed realisation of it being his own voice in _his own head_ disappearing before the thought had any time to solidify. In the blink of an eye, a holographic interface for a program that _shouldn't have been there_ popped up on his desk. He paused for a breath, possibly two. It had already been too long. He didn't think; he typed _._

Mere seconds passed as reams of code flowed from Inuyasha's fingers and into the ether, mind numbing as he became less compos mentis with each tick of a clock. He didn't know _what_ he was typing; he just knew he _had_ to.

 _5 seconds_. A line break here, a bracket there. Text whirled before him in a language he'd never used, swarming the display.

 _8 seconds_. The edges of his vision began to blacken, the thump of a migraine breaking its way into the mix and smacking him hard between the eyes.

 _10 seconds. **Just a little bit more**. _Inputting the last character of the cryptic piece of code, he hit enter.

 _12 seconds_. That was all he needed.

The projection blanked before thrumming back to life, a bright, garish red filling the illuminated space. The emblem of a viscous white dog appeared in the middle of the display; its red eyes slanted with pupils of bright blue glaring through its virtual confines.

He froze, fixated on the image as if it were going to jump out and maul him. Tunnel vision kicked in full force, drowning out everything that was going on around him. He was completely and utterly unaware of the three shadowed figures making their way towards him.

Everything went black.

* * *

_For Inuyasha, it seemed consciousness was a fickle bitch. Making sense of reality had never been his strong suit, an act that required careful thought and patience. Two things he sorely lacked._

_Wading in and out of his surroundings, he tried in vain to focus on the sounds that were muffled as if he were underwater. But this time, Inuyasha couldn't help the distinct feeling that it mattered. That this time, he needed to pay attention._

_This time, he needed to **wake up**._

_Blood pumped through his veins like a river, a rush of something he might describe as **excitement** flitting in and out. There was a vague familiarity with the feeling, one that he couldn't place._

_One that he didn't_ want _to place._

_An alarm, loud and piercing blared to life, echoing through his mind._

_A shout, a scream, the bellowing cry of someone that he might know._

_The scent of blood, fresh and thick and_ **_inviting_** _._

_The rush was thrilling, igniting something in his body that was so bone-deep that he could feel it etched into his very **soul**._

_He felt the whisper of cool air washing over him, bringing some relief to the surging heat that emanated directly from his core._

_Once again, he was dragged under, mind waterlogged with the inky blackness he was so familiar with._

* * *

"R...Roku...wha's goin' on?" Inuyasha's mouth was dry, the kind of dry that only came once in a blue moon. He was covered in sweat, droplets racing down his face as it poured from his brow like a faucet, soaking his once pristine white shirt in the process.

Taking a gasping breath, Inuyasha started his exercises, focusing on the top of his head, down to his shoulders, over his arms and hands...where he could feel a burning _itch_ within his claw-tipped fingers.

His vision cleared, the unnerving realisation dawning on him that his eyes were already open, yet unseeing. Raising a hand to his face, Inuyasha blanched at the sight. Claws that could usually be considered menacing had extended to nearly double the length, displaying a horrifying picture. He blearily looked up to find Miroku rushing around his apartment, hell-bent on whatever it was he was doing.

" _Miroku_..." the man in question snapped his head up then, the look of complete desperation covering his face fading as he caught sight of his visibly shaken friend.

"Man... come sit down, Ok? We'll get you sorted out," he approached Inuyasha, manoeuvring him to sit on the couch as if he were a toddler needing to be coddled. The treatment made him _rage_.

Inuyasha lunged from his seated position, startling Miroku into stumbling back and tripping on his own feet. His ass slammed onto the armchair near him, complete bafflement overtaking his features. Inuyasha took inventory of his surroundings and panic set in as he gathered they were back at his own apartment with no idea how they got there. Eyes halted on the opened hatch that sat above his couch. _That_ certainly hadn't been there before. Or…he didn't _know_ that it was there before.

"You... _you_!" Inuyasha pointed accusingly at the other man, losing his increasingly sporadic train of thought at the reminder that his claws weren't _quite_ right, watching as they oh-so-slowly retreated to their usual length. His stomach dropped.

Golden eyes levelled with violet ones, intent on finding something that was _clearly_ hidden beneath the surface. As the silence stretched on, Inuyasha's lip twitched in poorly concealed anger. It dawned on him _then_ , the gravity of his situation. Something was happening to him, had _been_ happening to him for fuck knows how long and his 'best friend' had been in on it the entire time. He had been so _fucking_ stupid. So fucking _blind_.

He wanted to run, he wanted to scream, he wanted to rip the sheet metal off the suffocating walls that surrounded him with his bare hands. But more than that, Inuyasha wanted answers. And the _prick_ in front of him had them.

Moving to grab Miroku and shake the truth out of him if need be, he stopped short at the sudden impression of a solid weight in his hand. Looking down, Inuyasha gaped at the object, the unawareness of its existence before unsettling him further.

A sword -older than _dirt_ by the looks of it- was clutched tightly within his grasp, knuckles white with the force he held it with. Battered black covered the sheath made of...wood? That was a rarity, a material he was profoundly unacquainted with. The crusty old wraps that covered the grip had seen far better days, and he wasn't sure if it was worth _a lot_ or completely _worthless_. Swords belonged in fairy tales, not in some data analyst's ordinary little apartment.

But as he took in its appearance, a tickle of familiarity egged him on. Inuyasha raised the sword to his face for a closer inspection. _There_. That scent.

His feet moved of their own accord, ignoring the frantic pleas Miroku sputtered after him as he shouldered the door to his room before it had a chance to open for him. He punched the panel to his closet, the door opening with a whine as its electricals were obliterated. He fished through the discarded shoes and fallen clothes on the floor, articles flying through his room before he came across the box that he had been looking for.

He threw it onto the bed, continuing to ignore whatever Miroku was saying as he flittered around him like an erratic, _aggravating_ bot. He was but a buzz, a minor distraction from Inuyasha's attempt to connect the dots. He opened the box, the stale smell of something _old_ wafting throughout the room as it was opened.

There, nestled on top of a few other insignificant pieces from his past, was the old red robe he'd kept hidden for nearly 20 years. It looked the same and yet, entirely different from how he remembered it. Gingerly, he ran the pads of his fingers over the rough material, surprised at the quality of such an item given its obvious age. Thick and clearly woven with care, Inuyasha lifted the article from the box and held it in the hand opposite the sword he'd come to wield. Glancing back and forth between the two, Inuyasha just _knew_ he should have been able to put two and two together. But he couldn't.

Whirling on Miroku then, he took the two steps he needed to get in his face, a snarl ripping from his throat for the first time in years. He felt bad for a moment, albeit a brief one, when he saw the poorly masked twinge of fear flash through Miroku's eyes.

" _Talk_."

Miroku opened his mouth to speak, cut off abruptly by Inuyasha bringing his arm up to cover the lower half of his face. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as the acrid stench of sulphur and smoke stung his nostrils. An instinctual reaction to the sudden onslaught to his senses, Inuyasha grabbed Miroku harshly and dragged him over to the glass wall covering one side of his bedroom. He paused momentarily to really think about what he was about to do.

The overpowering smell of plastic and smoke and _something_ was increasing by the second; nauseating wouldn't even begin to describe the sickness that came with it all. They needed to get out of there.

Inuyasha wrapped the sword in the red robe before slamming his fist into the glass, a hairline fracture emanating from where it had connected. Not good enough. He reeled back again, throwing all of his weight into it and following through with a force he didn't know he possessed. The glass burst spectacularly, chunks falling hundreds of feet onto the street below them. There still wasn't enough room to fit a person through, so he kicked the remainder of the glass out.

Inuyasha hoisted Miroku onto his back before peering down onto the street below. The sight stopped him. A few floors below his, he could see the smoke and flames billowing from the vents of the complex. _Miroku's floor_.

He turned his head to look at his best friend, a look that promised a world of hurt and a damn near _endless_ conversation. For once, for the first time since Inuyasha could remember, Miroku was silent. An odd revelation, considering the circumstances they'd found themselves in on this fucked up Monday.

Turning back to their escape route, Inuyasha took stock of the area surrounding them, noting absent-mindedly that he'd never really _noticed_ the buildings around him before now. Across from them was a small platform nestled between the floors of a skyscraper, a little lower than he would have liked. It would have to do. Taking a deep breath and praying to _anything_ , Inuyasha hefted Miroku up a little higher for better leverage, pausing for only a moment's hesitation.

One step, two steps and he _launched_ himself from the gaping hole that used to be his window. Miroku's alarmed shout cut into his ears harshly as they soared through the air, eyes set on his destination. It was hard for Inuyasha to ignore the absurdity of the situation. Here he was, his friend emulating a backpack as he practically flew through the night sky. Still, not the weirdest thing to have happened lately.

They landed without grace on the platform's smooth cement, skidding to a halt as they nearly collided with the wall of the structure. Inuyasha shrugged Miroku off, a small part of him happy to see him tumble to the ground. He threw the wrapped sword at his feet, the clatter echoing off the wet walls.

A moment too soon, a burst of heat assaulted them brutally, not unlike that first bombing they'd experienced a few days prior. Shielding themselves as best they could from the blast, it was more than a few agonizing moments as the chemical reactions simmered down and the brightness of it all dissipated.

Astounded, Inuyasha stumbled over to the edge to peer down at the scene unravelling in front of him.

Screaming. Crying. People _dying_. Someone had blown up the entire building.

* * *

Walking through his once pristine neighbourhood, Inuyasha surveyed the decimation in complete shock. Detachment consumed him as the smoke and dust that coated everything like a thick miasma choked him. He pushed through it; he needed to _see_.

See what had caused this, what had ended so many lives all at once. Some faces he found vaguely familiar ran and tumbled through the debris, panic thick in the air everywhere he looked. They were fortunate. Anyone above his floor surely was no longer of this earth.

Inuyasha stood transfixed, looking up at the shell of the building he'd called home for more than a year of his life. Contorted metal and charred shapes littered the once strong frame, a far cry from the sleek housing it boasted mere moments ago. He flinched at the sight of an appendage near him; one he couldn't quite make out.

Taking a step back, the urge to high tail it back to where he'd left Miroku on that little platform that saved their hides was overpowering. Distractingly, Inuyasha's nose twitched as an enigmatic scent infiltrated his senses, breaking him free of his stupor as he frantically looked around the mass of people to pinpoint it. _Her._

Jogging along the ruined path, he let his nose lead him to where he needed to be. There, at the outskirts of the mayhem was a familiar bike, leaning up against some railing that had survived the explosion. But it wasn't the bike he was interested in, no. It was the three women that stood, watching everything unfold as if it were no more than a show.

He picked up his pace then, hoping to corner them before they noticed him and had a chance to flee. He was only feet away as they finally took note of his appearance, the one closest to him drawing her gun to hold him off. As if that'd work.

With an alarming swiftness, Inuyasha slapped the offending weapon out of her hand, a shriek of indignation leaving her as his hand collided with hers. This girl, _this girl_ , the one that had blown up the shop on Friday night, the one who had unloaded fucking _bullets_ at his place of work, the one that had _blown up his fucking home_...

Anger the likes of which he'd never felt swam through him and he grit his teeth at the bitch that seemed to be the root cause of all his problems. A clawed hand raised to grasp around her throat, and he hefted her off the ground, bringing her face closer to his so he could get a better look. She tried to thwart him in vain, twisting in his grasp as she swore colourfully.

He ripped the glasses she sported away, taking note of a pretty face with a defiant look in her chestnut eyes, one which exacerbated him beyond belief. The other two watched on with caution, weapons drawn on him as they waited for his next move. He didn't so much as spare them a glance, eyes blazing into those of the girl he held so deftly in his grip. If he turned his attention to _Kagome_ , his resolve would be no more.

"Who the _fuck_ are you?" He fumed, breath catching painfully from the fumes still billowing around them.

Before his life became about bombings and strange girls and _terror attacks_ , he'd always teetered on the edge of bafflement. Uncertainty. Doubt. Now though… now he was _sure_. For the first time in a long time, Inuyasha felt the veil that had covered his eyes lift.

When no one made a move to appease him, Inuyasha grit his teeth at the girl in his hold, fingers tightening ever so slightly in warning as a low growl built within his chest.

" _Inuyasha_ , it wasn't us," Kagome's voice cut through, smooth like goddamn _butter_. He was pathetic.

He threw his glance to the left, locking eyes with Kagome behind those _stupid_ glasses as she kept her gun aimed steadily on him. He cut quickly back to the one he wanted to take his anger out on because he couldn't do it with her. Never _her_. The absurdity of that wasn't lost on him.

"Alright _Firestarter_ , start fucking talking right the _fuck_ now. Otherwise, you and your little cronies are gon-"

" _Inuyasha Taisho_."

His interrogation was barely underway as another voice -strong and clear- drew the attention of the group. Inuyasha swallowed thickly, the resonance of that name breaking through every noise that surrounded him.

His heart thudded painfully in an attempt to _leap_ from his chest. A white-hot flush took over his entire body, igniting every nerve ending and barraging his senses overwhelmingly.

He felt the elongating of his fangs, the sting of them cutting into his bottom lip numbing almost instantly as he turned towards the voice that had called out to him. His nose twitched wildly as every little irrelevant scent from the world around him intensified tenfold. His ears flapped wildly around his head, sounds that he'd never heard before seeping through the cracks. Three heartbeats and quickened breaths roared to life behind him as if someone had turned the volume up to _thunderous._

Inuyasha's vision blurred, tinged with an unnerving red as he zeroed in on the silhouette of a man in the distance. He dropped the girl he'd been dangling carelessly to the ground in a heap, completely forgetting her existence along with his reasoning. He took a step towards the new arrival, eyesight sharper than ever before.

He smiled then, a haunting thing. The whisper of a ghost played in the back of his mind, propelling him forward and _onward_ as his world once again became dark.

Turns out, Inuyasha's luck had finally run out.

* * *

_Fin_


	6. Chapter 5: Supraliminal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you'd like to see chapter teasers, artwork and more about Augmented or stories I'm reading, find me on [Tumblr](https://anisaanisa.tumblr.com/)

" _When you want to know how things really work, study them when they're coming apart." – William Gibson_

* * *

Inuyasha gasped for air, coming to with a shock as wind and rain pelted him ruthlessly. He shouldn't have been shocked anymore, not really. Regaining consciousness in bizarre situations was his _thing_ , apparently.

He attempted to scrub his hair away from his face, the wet strands blocking his view as he felt himself being tossed around haphazardly. By _what_ was left to be determined. Squinting through the downpour, he was more than just _shocked_ to find himself clutching onto _Kagome_ , straddled across the bike he'd seen her with twice now. Words that he wanted to speak were lodged in his throat as he pulled away from her slightly, only to be jostled back into gripping her tightly as they took a corner sharper than would be legal.

Kagome must have realised he was finally _awake_ , turning slightly to peer over her shoulder. The helmet she wore covered her face entirely, and she tilted her head -the smallest of gestures- the tinted black of her visor suddenly disappearing to show her beaming face through crystal clear glass.

"Nice to see you again, Inuyasha." Kagome's voice flowed through the speakers he couldn't see, horrendous weather far from hindering his ability to hear the sound he'd missed for so many years.

He knew he shouldn't have done it. He knew it was fucked up, but he couldn't help it.

He smiled.

* * *

It could have been minutes; it could have been hours. Time wasn't an issue to Inuyasha, not when he was wrapped around _this_ girl as she whisked him away into the night. The wind was a minor inconvenience, the rain a blip on his radar. He only acknowledged its existence to curse it for washing away her scent so effectively.

"Hang on!" she shouted to him suddenly, hunkering down low onto the body of the bike as it lurched forward. Inuyasha felt a vibration underneath him, rattling through his frame uncomfortably. They began to ascend, and his heart jumped into his throat as gravity tried to pull him back down to earth. He swivelled his head as he followed the sounds his ears picked up first, only to stare _stupidly_ at the wheels that were currently retracting snuggly into the vehicle's body. A fucking _hover_ bike. _Nice_.

As cool as it was, Inuyasha paled at the sudden turn Kagome took around a large building and squeezed her middle, hoping it wasn't _too_ obvious how terrifying he found it all. The reflective glass to their left glinted as it showed off the city's flashing lights, _almost_ charming Inuyasha as he saw it from a new perspective. He reached out, fingers stretching toward the windows and it dawned on him then. Their reflection wasn't there.

His eyes flitted around the space that should have shown a picture of them, only to be met with the neon billboards that took up the background. An enormous hologram emblazoned with "Yura Of The Hair" illuminated the dark sky, towering above the endless buildings as a woman dressed in little to nothing danced her way around the structures below her. He was sure it was supposed to be sexy, enticing anyone that would look her way.

But he didn't see her, not when he knew that he should have been seeing _himself_. He wasn't sure if it was the bike -if it was _her-_ or if there was simply no explanation as to why they were fucking invisible. _Still_.

Not the strangest of things.

* * *

When they'd started travelling through an area he didn't recognise, Inuyasha began to question what the fuck he was doing. _Technically_ , he was being kidnapped. _Technically_ , he shouldn't be flying through the air on an invisible hoverbike _with_ his Kidnapper.

He didn't know where they were going, but he knew that it didn't _look_ good. The true nature of the trip and how he came to be with Kagome was still left to be determined. He knew he was an idiot; he just…needed to get away. Yeah, that was it. He needed respite from Miroku, from his _job_ from his _life,_ it was _fine, it's fine, it's fine-_

His spiralling halted as they began to descend slowly, Inuyasha perking up as he _really_ started to take notice of his surroundings. They moved further into the darker parts of the city; greenery becoming sparse, a luxury that only some could afford to procure despite the government pushing its citizens to foster its growth. Balconies that were previously littered in vines and ferns that reminded them of a world long gone turned into more withered versions, not a lick of fauna in sight. Buildings looked stitched together haphazardly as they were built out of sync, yellowed and flickering lights highlighting it infrequently. Had AC always looked so… _dilapidated?_

Gliding smoothly onto the wet surface below them, Kagome carried on riding through the winding streets that seemed to become more and more narrow without pause. They moved into one of the _seediest_ districts he'd ever had the displeasure of seeing, the people milling about a near-perfect personification of their neglected surroundings. The bike slowed to a stop in an alleyway, and they were surrounded by smooth, damp concrete.

Inuyasha looked around in confusion. By any indication, they'd arrived at wherever it was she was taking him. But looking at the old, cracked concrete that lined the walls and the junk that littered the ground, he couldn't be so sure. Perhaps this was where she murdered him.

Before he could carry on with that thought, Kagome angled her head slightly towards the left, and a panel thrummed to life through the unassuming wall. With the flick of a hand, she cleared her visor, allowing the scanner to read her retinas and confirm her identification. The beam of its scanner blazed through the shadows of the alleyway they were hidden away in, highlighting every fault.

He'd be lying if he said he didn't jump when the ground below them started to _move_. He'd also be lying if he said he didn't hold onto Kagome for dear life, drawing the attention of his young Kidnapper. She laughed lightly, and he flushed slightly in embarrassment. It was only slightly. _Slightly_.

They were lowered into the ground by near-silent mechanisms, the darkness encroaching on him an odd comfort. If there was anywhere in the world, he could say he was comfortable; it was _in the dark_. But as his eyes struggled to adjust, Inuyasha felt the tell-tale pang of panic as he really, _really_ thought about the situation he was in.

Here he was, being whisked away by some _ninja_ , one that very well could have burnt his home and so many others to the ground that very evening. Bile rose in Inuyasha's throat without his consent, and he leaned away from Kagome on instinct, eyes darting around as he felt himself being closed off from the outside world.

Before he could think about bolting, the platform they were lowering on came to a halt, the ground that was now the ceiling covering the hatch once more. The blackness held for a second until floodlights burst to life, brightening everything around them obnoxiously.

The sounds of heavy machinery roared to life, and Kagome revved her engine, readying herself for whatever was to follow. He took her lead and braced himself, looking over her head into the endless tunnel. Wherever they were going had to be _far_ , an underground system like this hidden away from view and _completely_ -

They took off like a bullet and Inuyasha scrambled as inertia clung to him, making him feel like he was about to fly off the back of the bike at the speed Kagome was going. Clinging wasn't the right word for it; he was _merging_ with her to stay put on the plush seat they shared. He squeezed his eyes shut as the pilot lights zipping past them began to blur into one, a visual representation that they were going _too fucking fast_. Before he could even think to pipe up and get her to slow the _fuck_ down, they were decelerating, his weight slowly encroaching on hers.

Once they were travelling at what he would deem a normal speed, they reached a fork in the 'road'. Kagome took a sharp left, and they carried on, coming to a stop before a set of huge metal doors. Another round of identification and the doors opened smoothly, bike gliding through the archway and into the biggest vehicle bunker he could have ever fathomed.

Bikes and cars and trucks and _things_ that would never have made it onto the streets or skies of Angel City lined the expanse of stone walls on either side, row after row causing his jaw to drop that little bit more. These weren't even military-grade. These were _space_ grade.

As Kagome pulled her bike up alongside one of a similar breed, she nudged him to dismount so she could do the same. He swung his leg over, a little surprised at how dead it felt.

"What was…" he raised an arm pathetically towards the doors they'd come through, losing the words he wanted to ask as quickly as they appeared.

"Warp Tunnel."

"…a…Warp Tunnel? As in…" he looked back at the exit leading to what he knew now was a warp tunnel. A decommissioned, highly _illegal_ Warp Tunnel.

"That's right. There's a few connected different parts of the city that we use to move around quickly. Fun, right?" she couldn't be serious. He looked at her, _really_ looked at her then. She was serious.

Not two feet away stood the girl of his dreams. Scratch that, _f_ _ormer_ girl of his dreams. The slick material of her outfit clung to her in all the right places, leaving little to the imagination. Considering he'd imagined what she looked like under her school uniform all those years ago, he was far from disappointed in her attire. It was the _implication_ of it that irked him. She looked entirely different for him, yet somehow the same. Her eyes were what gave it away. This was Kagome now. Whoever _that_ was because now, she was a stranger to him.

His heart thumped in anguish.

"So…" and here was the awkward part. Where was he supposed to go with this? _Hey, why'd you kidnap me_ was hardly a usual conversation starter. He wasn't great at starting conversations under _normal_ circumstances.

"I know you have a lot of questions…and I have some answers for you. If you follow me, I'll show you around and…explain some things. Sound good?" her mouth tweaked up in a poorly contained smile.

He wasn't sure if she was laughing at him or not. It hardly mattered anyway.

He followed her.

* * *

To say the place Kagome had brought him was huge would be an understatement, whatever _it_ was. Inuyasha wasn't sure exactly how far underground they were, but the corridors spanned endlessly in a lateral fashion that he quickly lost track of. This bunker of sorts had to span a few miles in width at the very least. And to think, it was hidden under Angel City, the most surveyed place on earth.

They marched on, the pace that Kagome set carrying them briskly through the stark hallway. If she weren't so small, he might have a hard time keeping up with her. But the _view_ he had of her ahead of him was worth any bit of lagging he may have been doing.

He nearly collided with her suddenly, stopping abruptly to look up into piercing blue eyes.

_Fuck_. He'd been caught. "Uh…."

"We're here," she turned again, leading him to a door that he was sure wasn't there before. She wasn't _that_ distracting. Probably.

They entered the sliding doors that opened into a large foyer, glass walls jutting out in every direction leading to other areas he was sure were just as confusing to navigate. He looked up as he felt a cool breeze gloss over him, eyes widening at the vastness. The room that seemed to be the centre of it all was carved into the surrounding rock, and the ceiling made up of small caves and natural structures he'd only ever seen in pictures. _Stalactite_ , he recalled whimsically. Wherever he was, it was _beautiful_ ; a word he'd very rarely used to describe anything.

A tap to his shoulder brought him back to reality.

"So, you're him," a statement, not a question.

"…him?"

"Buddy, you're like, my _favourite_ mystery."

What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Inuyasha sneered at the little snot that materialised behind him, taking in the puff of orange hair that topped his stupid, punchable face.

"What?" Great. Excellent. He'd already managed to make himself look like a complete tool.

"Never in my life have I had such a hard time tracking someone. Never in _this_ city, at least," his green eyes twinkled, unnerving mischief in them that Inuyasha was sure was a permanent feature.

"You've been spying on me?" as if _that_ was the most absurd thing that had happened to him lately.

" _Trying_ to," the asshole grinned a full-on toothy _motherfucker_ of a grin that had Inuyasha's fists clenching in preparation.

His daydreaming of pummelling this kid into the ground was cut short by a giggle that had him short-circuiting. His ears flickered in delight at the sound, and he cursed their inability to just _be cool_. He glanced towards Kagome, forgetting the newcomer quickly.

"Come on. I have someone for you to meet."

* * *

Inuyasha was sure that his jaw would be sore for days to come with how often it had become unhinged lately. The disbelief he felt as he gawked at the images sprawled before him consumed him entirely. Because he couldn't _believe_ his eyes.

Lit up and clear as day as they stayed afloat before him, photo after photo of _himself_ stared back at him. He couldn't think. He couldn't speak.

Hundreds upon hundreds of images –all of him– living, working, just generally _being_ were on display, giving himself an uncomfortable glimpse at his life from an unwanted point of view. The hair on the back of his neck stood. He felt his stomach turn, bile rising _once again_ in his throat that he had to swallow back forcefully. He didn't want to give in to the visceral reaction his body was having to the realisation he was being _stalked_. He wanted answers.

He swivelled to glare at the unassuming woman sat behind the desk carved into the stone floor. The grey of her wiry hair stuck out in every direction from her tight bun, the _ridiculous_ eye patch she wore covering the deep wrinkles that encased her eyes on one side of her face.

This entire time, they'd been watching him. Whoever _they_ were.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Inuyasha." Her voice was gravelly, a rasp that was likely undetectable to most searing through his ears and drawing a wince. Damn it all if his ears weren't playing up.

"The pleasure _isn't_ mine." He threw his arm towards the holograms that littered the space around him. "Care to explain?"

"I can offer you the answers you seek in exchange for something."

Of course; a catch.

"Mm. And what are you wanting from me exactly? The best route to take into the centre?" He pointed to an image of him standing near a metro window, clearly taken from the outside. "Or perhaps the best route into the labour district?" He pointed to a similar image. "Because as you can see lady, I'm hardly someone worth following or asking _favours_ of. I'm just a fucking _data analyst_." As if his life wasn't sad enough, here it was, an open book for anyone to see.

"You're obviously not looking closely," the woman rose from her chair, and her old bones creaked audibly in his ears. What the fuck was going on with him?

She stood before the plethora of images, drawing a few of them closer with a wave of her hand. A photo he hadn't noticed came front and centre, chilling his blood and sending that white-hot flush he wasn't too keen on through his system.

There, backlit and shining brightly amongst all the repetitive images of him going to _work_ was Miroku. But it wasn't just that, it was Miroku dragging Inuyasha through the smoke and dust that surrounded them, clearly taken the night of the first bombing. Only, he wasn't looking at himself. It was a _version_ of himself.

The Inuyasha he was looking at was a near mirror image, but the differences were stark and practically winded him in disconcertion. His eyes, blood-red with surreal blue pupils, were not unlike those of the dog shown through his screen during the attack at Taisho Corp. mere hours before. The slash of jagged purple streaks on his cheekbones had his hand raising to ghost over the area they would be. His fangs, longer than he was used to, were extended and sunk into his bottom lip, looking awkward in a mouth they didn't fit. His claws, exactly the same as he'd seen them when he woke up in his apartment with Miroku looked disjointed, the hand that wasn't being tugged by his friend twisting unnaturally as it appeared to grapple at nothing.

His friend.

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed on the still image of Miroku's face, his own twisting into a snarl as he stared at the _fucker_ that he'd been calling his best friend.

"I know how you must be feeling Inuya-"

"You don't know a _thing_ about me," he knew it was stupid, swimming in photographs of himself and refuting her claims. The look she gave him wasn't necessarily exasperated, but it was close enough to have him feeling petulant.

"Your name is Inuyasha Taisho, alias Inuyasha Takahashi. Age 24 and parentage left unknown, orphaned at six years old. You've been masquerading as a data analyst at Taisho Corp for a year and a half, placed by an unknown entity. You've been experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia since childhood, experimenting with antipsychotics to try and _resolve the issu-"_

" _Stop."_

"You aren't sick Inuyasha, far from it. If you'll allow me, my team and I will help you find out why you were at Taisho Corp. Perhaps even why you share the same name."

He was floored. The entire time…

He thought of the people that surrounded him every day, most of their faces blurring into the background. He thought of the layout of his workplace, the ease of access he'd been afforded, the nice apartment, the _generous_ pay, the endless supply of _everything and anything he wanted…_

It dawned on him; Inuyasha wasn't just _lucky,_ was he?

"Him?" he didn't have to point to the image of Miroku dragging him from the wreckage.

"He's your handler," so simple. So _confusing_.

"Handler?"

"Someone that…looks after agents like yourself," she didn't elaborate.

He was going to throw up.

The woman rounded her desk and perched herself on the chair she'd previously occupied. "There is more to this… _situation_ than even we know. A wretched evil is preying on the people of this city, and we're here to try and fight it. Somehow, all roads we've found led to _you_ , Inuyasha. We'll help you figure out what's been happening to you. It's _vital_ that we figure out what's happening to you." The look in the one eye he could see was one he couldn't put a finger on.

"Let us help you."

This was it. The defining moment where the protagonist makes some life-changing decision that alters the course of their future forever-more. But this wasn't a movie or a book or some _fantasy_ ; this was real life - _his_ real life- and the headache that was creeping up on him reminded him of that.

He turned to look at Kagome who had stood diligently and _silently_ near the door since they entered this dreaded room. Their eyes met, and he was glad for the lack of obstruction this time around.

The blue of her eyes was so unnerving, the way they caught the lights in the room reminding him of what the night sky littered with stars _would_ look like if he'd ever had a chance to see one. His breath caught in his throat and the pulsing in his veins quickened with the extended gaze they shared. Her eyes warmed. Her mouth twitched. She looked at him with an emotion he couldn't place; didn't want to place.

He just wanted to drown in it.

He turned to the older woman, drawing in a deep breath as he went against the screaming in his head telling him to run, to leave, to get _the fuck out_.

"Fine."

* * *

The ding of his Interface going off for what had to be the twentieth time rang through Inuyasha's head, causing him to grunt and smack his forehead in agitation. Kagome looked at him perplexed, before likely realising what had bothered him.

"Is he…worried?" The word sounded out of place in the predicament he'd found himself in. While it was _precisely_ what Miroku was likely feeling at that moment, it was unlikely that it was _genuine_.

Fuck. This one was going to sting for a while.

The thought had him yanking at his suit jacket, fidgeting with his collar as he stomped his feet a little harder into the walkway. Yet another nondescript corridor, lined with nothing but the occasion _nondescript_ door. They halted at the rusty frame of an entrance different from any of others he'd seen thus far.

"Worried is a _word_." He grumbled as he pulled his Interface up in front of him, silencing the call and effectively _blocking_ Miroku's number from his contacts. _There_. Maybe now he could get some fucking peace.

The emerald eyes that met him when he entered the dingy little room promised otherwise.

" _Ouch_. You said this wouldn't hurt!" Inuyasha knew he sounded like a bitch, but anything to make the pricks job that little bit harder was worth it.

Wide, glaring eyes encompassed his vision, his nose brushing up against Inuyasha's as he got as close to him as he possibly could. "I know. This is just part of the fun."

" ** _Fuck!_** " the chilling grin he glimpsed was the only warning Inuyasha got as a sharp pain seared through his ear, the sharp teeth of a clamp snapping together and biting into the sensitive flesh. "You _brat_! Why the fuck are you using all this outdated garbage anyway?!"

He barely fought the urge to rip the clamps off and hurl them at the orange-haired _nightmare_. Barely.

"Look, it's not my fault all you _children_ are running 'round with all these fancy gadgets. I like things the way they _were_ , not the way they _are_ …if you catch my drift?"

"Not in the slightest," nothing this fucker said made any sense to him. Not one single _fucking_ thing.

"Great. Now hold still! I need to access the chip of your Interface, and I can't have you squirming 'round and distracting me…oh man, I've wanted to do this for _months_ …."

"Months?"

"Yep, months. Now _hold still_."

The jolt that followed was hard to describe. Inuyasha felt present, but he also felt _elsewhere_. There was a push at the back of his mind, something zeroing in on him that made him feel laid bare. He pinched his eyes shut, flashes of imagery and names and _numbers_ racing through his mind that he couldn't keep up with.

"Ok, this is a _mess_. Holy shit man, they've got you hidden." The kid's voice rang through his head, a slight echo following as it bounced around his skull. He winced as the push became harder, stronger, _deeper_ until there was a faint pop. _Relief._

" _There_ we go. Now, give me a minute while I get all the data we need out of this chip before I destroy it."

"Destroy it?" Inuyasha's voice sounded foreign, distan _t_ in his own mind.

" _Destroy_. You're going off the grid bud, just like the rest of us." So casual, so nonchalant. As if getting rid of your Interface and going _rogue_ was an everyday occurrence in the modern world.

"But I've seen Kagome use hers."

"We don't use _names_ here," he could hear the distaste that must have been present on his face, "and it's not the type of Interface you're used to."

"How many of you are there?" Inuyasha picked that question out of the giant hat of questions he had. It seemed like as good a place as any to start.

"We'll get to that. Hold still."

A flash of white seared through Inuyasha's mind and he doubled over in his seat at the onslaught. His eyes pinched shut harder, and his ears flattened to his head dramatically as he felt the _snap_ of his Interface's power being eradicated from existence. He took a few shuddering breaths as his equilibrium was restored.

"Welcome to the team." The other man's voice was suddenly right in front of him, wholly different from the sound that was coming through his consciousness a moment ago. The clarity of it wasn't lost on him.

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open, surprised to find the gleaming smile that was being bestowed upon him. His eyes, so green and _clear_ in the dim lighting of his little shop of horrors, shone with promise. What that promise was, Inuyasha was more than willing to find out.

He glanced down at the hand extended to him, taking note of all the little details he was sure he would never have seen before. The faint strawberry blonde hairs that sprouted from his skin, the deep-set creases that lined his knuckles, the glint of his blunt claws that caught the light just _so_ …

He inhaled, the coppery twang in the air hitting the back of his throat so acutely he could practically _taste_ it. The old monitors and wires hanging from every surface came to life around himthrough scent, and he marvelled at the sensation.

Gold met emerald once more, and Inuyasha reached for his hand, shaking it in a firm grasp.

For the first time in a _long_ time, he felt like he could breathe again.

* * *

_Fin_


	7. Chapter 6: Metempsychosis

" _There's nothing in the news except what they want people to know. Half the country could burn up and nobody would know it if they didn't want." - James Tiptree Jr._

* * *

"So…you guys blew up my place?" It felt stupid -it _sounded_ stupid- but it was as good a time as any.

" _No_. That wasn't us," Kagome gazed at him with such sincerity that Inuyasha wanted to believe her. But he knew better than to just take her word for it. _She_ was at the centre of everything that had gone wrong in the last few days.

"That's…" he contemplated the words, "unlikely."

Friday night, he'd seen her sitting on that damn bike and _boom_ , explosion. Monday, he'd been scraping away at his work when _she_ had arrived to terrorise him and his co-workers. Afterwards, it was _her scent_ he'd located when his entire fucking building had burnt to the ground.

The odds weren't stacked in her favour.

Over three hundred units, over a thousand-person capacity, countless lives, all gone within moments. The numbers began to pile up in Inuyasha's head, so real and _there_ and at the forefront. He took a breath and _stopped_. Reality had been smacking him in the face ceaselessly, but the magnitude of it had only just begun to clear its path.

"And I can agree with that. But we've been tracking someone that's had their eye on you for some time now. You and…others. I think they may have had as hard a time finding you as we did. We've got a lot of intel regarding…things going on in the city, and we'd like you on board with us. We want to help you," Kagome was beginning to ramble, tripping over her words here and there. She twiddled her thumbs, a nervous thing that Inuyasha suddenly remembered her doing a lot back in high school.

Momentarily distracted, Inuyasha wondered at the _clarity_ with which he could recall that little detail about her. It had been a grand total of five minutes since he'd had his Interface terminated and he couldn't believe the difference in his ability to _remember_. A fog had dissipated, still lingering but clearing quicker than he could keep up with. The thought that the dead chip that was still lodged deep in the soft tissue of his brain _may_ have been the cause of his out-of-touch existence swept in, and he fought back, needing to stay on his current train of thought. For fucking _once_.

"And… the shooting?" He croaked, the acknowledgement of her part in it caused a tangible stir in his chest. She looked away from him, the bob of her Adam's apple drawing his eye as she swallowed thickly.

"Will be explained, I _promise_." She made a move towards the door. "Come on. I'll show you around while Fox works through your data." Kagome's soft voice was placating - _too_ placating- and it soothed him momentarily. _Wait._

"Fox?" Who the fuck was Fox?

"What?" An annoying head of orange hair popped up from behind a rack filled with what looked like old as _fuck_ servers. The giant Oculus he wore rattled around his head, more than just a poor fit.

" _Let's go."_ Inuyasha turned abruptly on his heels, not wanting to share a space any longer with the little creep that had clamped his ears for no good reason. _It was just a joke_ , he'd said. _He didn't mean any harm_ , he'd said.

The _brat_.

Inuyasha fumed as he stomped out the door and away from that rusty, _dusty_ hole in the wall. He reached for one for his ears, soothing a tender spot that lingered when he heard a throat clear behind him. He swivelled to stare dumbly at Kagome, who hid her smile behind her hand. She pointed in the opposite direction of the one he'd been going with her other.

"It's this way."

* * *

Bewilderment marred Inuyasha's features once more as they entered the main hall, _swearing_ they should have gone the other way. Wherever they were -underground, in the sky, on the _fucking moon_ \- it didn't matter, it was a maze. If this was where he'd be staying for a time, Inuyasha was sure he'd never get to grips with the layout. There was almost nothing to it, yet the clashing nature of the too-clean glass and the too-smooth stone was as enchanting as it was _confusing_.

A loud burst of laughter came from the giant doors that Inuyasha had entered with Kagome not long ago, bringing with it a group of individuals that must have come back from one of their _jobs_. Whatever those were.

The two girls taking up the front he recognised, the pair of them sporting the same outfits they'd worn when his home was decimated. He sneered at them, the imagery bringing with it his aversion for them. Inuyasha's heckles rose ten-fold when he caught sight of the man taking up the rear, a familiar scent emanating from him that he couldn't place. His nose was doing a _number_ on him.

The disliking was immediate, the way this guy's blue eyes darted around the place like a predator, the way his stupid ponytail swished around like he was some kind of _fucki-_

"Hey, Priestess!" the redhead that was already too bubbly for his tastes piped up, causing Inuyasha to frown deeply. His name wasn't fucking _Priestess_.

"Ayame," Kagome cooed. _Oh._

Inuyasha's attention snapped back to the man saddling up to them, the two of them locking eyes. There was an unfathomable feeling of hatred for this man that Inuyasha couldn't explain away and _fuck it_. He didn't want to.

"Ahh, the _puppy_ is here." There it was.

" _Fuck you_." He spat, eyes narrowing and jaw clenching at the term that slashed through him. It wasn't what he said; it was _the way_ he said it.

"No, thank you." The asshole laughed; a jovial thing that could light up a room had Inuyasha not been his current audience.

The two girls he arrived with giggled, and Inuyasha _bristled_.

"Come _on_ , this is important! We can do introductions later." Kagome -or Priestess- whatever the fuck _that_ meant, grabbed onto his hand and Inuyasha felt a little jolt at the contact. His palms started to sweat, his heart began to race, and his gut twisted in that familiar way that aggravated him to no end. He hated how this girl had him feeling like an awkward teenager all over again, stopping him dead in his tracks with the slightest of gestures.

She dragged him down yet another pristine corridor and away from the others, the entire place blending into one monotonous blur of the same damn thing. Sleek floors, unmarked doors and a lack of signage had Inuyasha wondering how anyone made it around this place with only their eyes to guide them. Kagome seemed to know her way around just _fine_.

The entire ordeal -if that were what you could call it- had been shrouded in mystery from the word go and he was far more confused now than he had ever been. The fact that he was made _homeless_ and went off the grid in the matter of a few hours was insane. It was unthinkable. It was completely and utterly bat shit _crazy_.

As he watched the sway of Kagome's hair against her back and felt the warmth of her hand leaving his, he contemplated the connotations of him following this girl around like a lost puppy. An ear flicked at the reminder of the pet name that prick had given him, loathe to think that he had been _right_.

Kagome set that fast pace she preferred once more and Inuyasha eased up a bit, purposefully letting her get ahead of him. He needed some space from her. The heady scent of something that was so uniquely hers was suffocating him, and he _knew_ he wasn't thinking clearly.

Thinking _clearly_ was something Inuyasha couldn't honestly remember ever doing, the thought suddenly setting him on edge. Of all the things that could be upsetting him now, it was that bit of normalcy that others knew as their every day that had him rethinking…whatever _this_ was. His knee jerk reaction was to grapple for the fog, wrap it around himself once more and find comfort in the regularity he had before all of this.

"You ok?"

He'd stopped walking. He'd stopped fucking walking and Kagome was looking at him with all the worry in the world, layering guilt on top of him feeling like an idiot. As if he had anything to feel _guilty_ about. This girl, the one that was all hair, eyes, boobs, and _ass,_ was putting some kind of spell on him, and he was finally _pissed_.

His eyes narrowed on her, the guilt building a little -just a _little_ \- at the frown that marred her otherwise perfect features. He shut his eyes, cutting off the image of her in a poor attempt to focus on something else. He inhaled deeply, regretting it immediately as the dizzying scent of her slammed into him, filling his head with nothing but Kagome, _Kagome, Kago-_

" _Inuyasha_."

Damn it all; she was closer now.

"What the fuck is going on Kagome?" _there_ , he was confronting her. _Kinda._

Her frown deepened, her bottom lip popping out a little. Inuyasha felt his resolve falter ever so slightly. If she didn't look so fucking _cute_ when she was miffed, he would be able to keep his composure. Not that he had any. He needed to get away from her, and he needed some space to think straight f _or once._

"There's no simple explanation Inuyasha, don't you want t- "

"I want answers," even he was shocked at the tenor in his voice, the demand reverberating off the walls around them. There was a second of silence before she tutted, placing both of her hand on her hips. She looked at him with contempt, as if he hadn't been more than compliant this entire _fucking_ time.

"You want answers? Well, so do we. What's your last name Inuyasha?"

"T-Takahashi," the lie tasted bitter.

"Your _last_ name. Your surname, the name that your _father_ gave you, Inuyasha. What is it?" Kagome goaded him on, drawing closer with each biting word. The walls began to move around him, an unnamed feeling building in his gut. He had to _get away_.

"Have you ever _looked_ around? You think your best friend hangs off you like that because he _likes_ you? You think your so-called _employers_ bend over backwards to accommodate you because you're an _asset_? You think-"

" ** _Enough!_** " he bellowed, hands covering his eyes as if it would shield him from the truth.

"No Inuyasha, it's not enough. It's time to wake the _fuck up_."

* * *

His luck couldn't get any worse. Inuyasha's eyes darted between the two standing in front of him, hoping beyond hope that the ah-ha moment would be right about… _now_. It didn't, because clearly, _he_ was the butt of the joke.

"You've got to be kidding me." The sniggers that followed had his claws digging into his palms, fully prepared to take his frustrations on the two assholes he'd been brought to.

The two _assholes_ who had been parading as officers of the law not two days ago.

"Hello again, _Inuyasha_ ," the one to the left allowed his grin to widen. Inuyasha wanted to smash it off his face.

" _You_ two. Seriously?" as if the visual confirmation wasn't enough, the scent that wafted from them had him putting two and two together, grasping loosely onto the fact that these two were somehow connected to the blue-eyed cretin he'd met briefly before.

"Us two," they answered in unison.

Thoroughly creeped out, Inuyasha chose this moment to just say _fuck it_ and roll with the punches. Answers would come with _patience_ ; he'd gathered that much. He knew he'd have to exercise some to get any sort of information about himself, his past, why the _fuck_ someone would want to blow his house into a bunch of teeny tiny little pieces…

The two smirking idiots waited for him to make a move. Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder to Kagome, scowling when he noticed she still had a _look_ on her face. They'd hashed it out -if that were what you would call it- before she brought his grumbling ass down to some medical facility a floor below.

_It's a lot to take in at once, there's more than meets the eye, it's bigger than you and I._

It was all a load of bullshit if you asked him.

The other asshole, the one with the moronic Mohawk, cleared his throat and brought Inuyasha back to the present. If information came with having to put up with the two dickheads that had accosted him a few days prior, he could suck it up. For now.

"If you will…" the one sans Mohawk gestured to the chair that sat in the middle of the room, it's overhead lights blaring to life as if it were summoning him.

Inuyasha gulped, cringing at the sound that came with it. He fought the urge to scratch at his ears, the buzz in them becoming more irritating by the second as the two _police officers_ flapped around the room. He took the opportunity to take in his surroundings, drawing in the details that would have been lost to him usually. He moved a little further into the room, cautious of the sterile equipment that was dotted around.

Smooth cabinets lined the walls, the odd control panel breaking up their unity now and then. The clinical nature of the room was far too white and bright for his liking, and while he'd _never_ admit it, he much preferred the kitschy nature of Fox's dwellings. Machines he was utterly unfamiliar with stood tall, most of them freestanding with arms and contraptions that had his ass clenching. He eyeballed a particularly crude-looking instrument jutting out from one of them, the shine of its metal making it stand out from the rest. _Nope_.

"Come on, don't you want to know what you've got in you?" The Mohawk wielder grabbed onto Inuyasha's shoulders from behind, all but shoving him down into the seat they had prepared for him. Inuyasha had a hunch these two were actually _excited_ to get their grubby little hands on him, but now he was certain. _Creeps._

"Don't worry. You won't have to do this again… _much_ anyways."

"Wait, wh-" Not-Mohawk pushed a button on the side of the chair, Inuyasha's head slamming against the headrest as he was suddenly staring at the ceiling. A faint squeak sounded to his left before a giant light was hovering over him, eyes clamping shut on instinct.

He felt the tug on his sleeve a millisecond before a sharp pain pinched at his wrist, bringing forth a yelp as he sat up at the sensation.

"The _fuc_ -"

"There, we're all done. Now, lie back down." A strong hand shoved at Inuyasha's shoulder, and he was once again horizontal. The glaring light met his eyes, and he shut them, a wince creasing on his face as all the sensations of the last few hours started to become too much for him. It was all _too fast_.

"Sorry, lemme just adjust this…" a mumble broke through his thoughts before he saw the lights dimming behind his lids, tentatively opening them to find the brightness had been turned down. Thank _fuck_.

But Inuyasha wasn't thankful for long, because his vision was once again filled with the two idiots who were shoving him and poking him and prodding-

"We're gonna have a look at you, do some basic physiology stuff. See if we can figure out what you're made of. Sound good?"

"What's the point?" His DNA had never been linked to anyone's in _any_ database in Angel City, that he was certain of at the very least. Dog demon was all he had to go by -thanks to his ears- and any blood tests done when he was much younger had been botched or _inconclusive_. He hadn't seen the point in looking any further himself, not once he was comfortable with Totosai. _Shit, Toto-_

"So _you_ think. Missy over there has reason to believe someone has been tampering with your data for a while now. Like, _a while_ a while." Mohawk pointed over his shoulder, but Inuyasha didn't have to look to see who he was talking about.

The thought that even these two goons, police officers or _doctors_ -whoever they were- knew more about him than he did had his teeth grinding. He swallowed the anger, unclenching his fists as he felt a small trickle of blood leak over his palm. He had dug his claws into the flesh, all too ready to lash out. He needed to cool down.

At this point, he was sure it was muscle memory, fumbling for the little pill bottle that should have been there. _Should_ have.

Absolute dread filled him as he ran his hands over each suit pocket, growing a little more panicked with each second passing as he realised it was absent. He must have lost it in the chaos, either at work or a home and he needed-

"Hey," a soft voice drifted to his ears, halting his spiralling. Inuyasha turned his head to see Kagome standing over him, the other two having wandered off to rummage through compartments filled with things he'd rather ignore, "you don't need them."

His eyes locked with hers and he felt the panic subside, if only a little.

He wanted to believe her.

* * *

Dumbfounded wasn't quite the word to describe what Inuyasha was feeling. It was bigger than that; the disbelief overruling the data for a moment. And yet, it was all there, in glowing white text backlit amongst the screen it was housed in.

_Half Demon._

He was without a shadow of a doubt a _half-demon_ and the two mongrels that had figured that out for him in no more than five minutes were too damn smug about it.

"Your daddy was definitely the demon in this pairing. If you look here…" and that was where he lost Inuyasha, rattling off biological terminology that he had no interest in, c _ouldn't_ find interest in if he tried to, the news hitting him harder than he would have imagined.

His father was a full demon. His mother was a human.

It shouldn't have mattered, not really. Not when he'd lived most of his life without the faintest clue as to who had created him. They hadn't…. _wanted_ him or couldn't have him -whatever it was- so it _shouldn't_ have mattered. And yet it _did_ and the likelihood of his father being a full demon in the year 2392 was near impossible.

"How…" he lost the words once again before he could grasp onto them.

"Congratulations on your potency." Inuyasha grimaced at the word. He glanced away from the screen momentarily, eyes flicking between the two in disgust.

He hoped his newfound level of recall wouldn't keep _these_ two in his head for long.

* * *

The room he'd been given was more than adequate, the spacious living area bigger than the entirety of his apartment. His _old_ apartment. The one that _no longer existed_ , rather.

He stood in the middle of the room -where he'd been standing since his arrival- intent on listening to the hums around him that kept this place going. Kagome had allowed him the space to get to grips with his _situation_ as she put it, bringing him to his new living quarters while he was dumbstruck and useless. He hadn't really taken in the aesthetic of the place, zoning out in a way he was entirely unused to. For fucking once, he was thinking.

Inuyasha drew in a shuddering breath, head tipping back a notch as he felt _everything_ in the room. It was odd yet familiar, being so keenly aware of his surroundings. His senses had always been acute, picking out sounds and scents easily amongst the rabble. But this was different.

The smell alone was something to behold, picking out the little details and focusing on them becoming easier as time moved on. His ears were bothering him slightly, and they flicked in agitation now and then without his consent. They were picking up every little tick, tock, beep and boop within a mile radius, _overwhelmingly_ so. The amalgamation of senses was as overbearing as it was exhilarating, and he knew it was going to take some getting used to.

He wasn't sure if it were the lack of Interface, the lack of drugs in his system, or simply getting the fuck out of that _weird_ situation he'd been ushered into without his knowledge…by his best friend no less.

The only thing Inuyasha was absolutely _sure_ of was that he didn't want to go back to that mind-numbing existence he'd been trudging through before. He didn't want to wake up in cold sweats, brief images of terrible dreams flitting in and out before he fucking _forgot_ all over again. He didn't want to ignore the sights on his way to work. He didn't want to wave half-heartedly at his co-workers whose faces blended into one. He didn't want to miss out on what it was like to be _alive_.

He had no worldly possessions to care for anymore, not unless you counted the strange sword and robe he'd left under Miroku's watch. And he didn't necessarily _care_ , the idea of retrieving the items causing him to scoff aloud. He didn't want to see that dickhead, not anytime soon.

No, he didn't give a _single fuck_ for anything from his previous life -not unless he counted Totosai- the realisation oddly comforting to him. He'd see the old man soon. He'd make sure of it.

Had Inuyasha known just how far he'd sunk while living in _that place_ , working in _that place_ …he wasn't sure what he would do about it. He just knew he didn't want to go back. Inuyasha had always let the day slip away, never truly making up his _own_ mind. He wanted to know what that felt like.

If _now_ was the time a fire had been lit up his ass, _now_ was the time to harness that fire and take back the life he now knew had been robbed from him.

His shoulders perked, and he marched over to the double doors that appeared to lead to another room, suddenly eager to explore his surroundings. The door didn't open automatically like he was used to, and he stopped short, chest a breath away from the cool metal of its surface. His eyes darted along its frame in astonishment, looking for some sort of sensor or panel he could use to access it—no such luck.

He took a step back, eyeing the sizeable door that -now that he thought about it- looked out of place in the otherwise modern room. Where the smooth metal of the walls stopped, a rusty brown began, bolts the size of his fist lining the frame. A whoosh sounded behind him, and he turned sharply, taken aback by the sudden intrusion while he was investigating so intently.

"Hey. You _have_ to be hungry. I left you in here a while ago." Inuyasha's stomach rumbled uncomfortably, and a hand flew to his stomach as if it'd hide the noise. His cheeks pinkened a little at the chuckle he received in response, watching as the girl that appeared and reappeared like a hologram turned and headed back out the door.

His feet moved without his permission, carrying him out of the room he hadn't become acquainted with. He left the strange door behind, not even sparing it a second glance; much like the life he'd led previously.

His nose twitched as he narrowed in on her scent, finding it a little too easy to follow her lead with that sense alone. The quiet patter of her feet as they hit the smooth flooring she walked along was loud in his ears, though he knew she was silent to most.

He shouldn't have followed her so easily, shouldn't have let this girl lead him around without some sort of explanation, a hint, a motherfucking _clue_.

But he was aware this time, he knew what he was doing and he _no_ fucking excuse.

She turned, a small smile gracing her features when she saw him trailing after her.

He was in love.

* * *

The common area Kagome had brought him to was vast, far too vast for the lack of people that seemed to take up the place. The two girls he'd come to detest were sitting against a booth located at the far end of the room, but their quiet chatter met his ears.

" _So, do you think that- "_

"Hey, guys! We're going to grab something to eat before we go see the Boss. Mind if we join?" Kagome piped up, flitting around the kitchen space and tapping away at screens while sustenance materialised at her command. She gestured for him to take a seat with them and he'd be lying if he said he didn't hop to it.

"Sure thing," the brunette -the one that had fired a round of _bullets_ at his workplace- lamented, gracing Kagome with a forced smile. Her gaze moved back to Inuyasha, smile dropping immediately and a look of utter dislike consuming her face.

He extended the same courtesy.

"Hi," a cheery voice sounded to his left, and he turned, suddenly met with eyes a little _too_ green and hair a little _too_ red.

"H-hey," he supposed this was the point where conversation was supposed to occur. It had been a while since he'd really _tried_ , "so…what's Ayame mean then?"

The girl in question laughed suddenly and slapped his arm, opting to comment no further. He watched her, waiting for her to explain, but she never did. The smile she wore unsettled him, and he inched away slowly, clearing his throat. He mumbled a thanks as a cup of instant noodles made their way into his hand.

Whatever the joke was, he wasn't in on it.

* * *

The room that Inuyasha had been brought to by the three amigos was dimmed, images not unlike the one's he'd been blessed with earlier taking up every little corner of the room. _Slayer_ -as he'd come to learn her 'name'- was standing at the head of the long stone table, a few of their _agents_ sitting in chairs that surrounded the structure. She was clearly in charge of their little operation, the others diligently listening as she barrelled through information.

The information they already knew and Inuyasha was more than willing to find out. This was his 'debriefing', apparently. It was about fucking _time_.

" _This_ is Onigumo, Commissioner of the ACPD." She gestured to the image on the left. " _This_ is Naraku, the worst thing to happen to Angel City in its long-running history." She pointed to the other, shoving them towards Inuyasha before crossing her arms. He wasn't oblivious to her agitation.

"These are the guys you're after?" he perked up, leaning forward to get a better look.

"They're one and the same."

"...what?"

"It's… _poetic_ really, he waltzes around calling shots and painting himself as some type of hero, but when no one's looking he's the fucking _devil_ incarnate. If the world weren't _already_ burning, I'd say he'd be the one to end it. He may actually get us there earlier than we were meant to." She nodded towards the headshots and Inuyasha made the conscious effort to _see_ what he was looking at.

On the left was a candid image of a man, dressed in his high-ranking uniform and as unassuming as any other officer in Angel City. His forgettable brown eyes and forgettable brown hair were hidden well under his hat, and Inuyasha knew he would never have looked at him twice in passing. There were no discernible features about him that stood out, especially amongst the current trend of _standing out_. Though, the image on the right held a different story.

The face was the same, the strong jaw and curve of his nose giving that much away. But in place of brown hair were thick waves of inky black, _pitch_ in the way it absorbed the light around him. His eyes had taken on a deep crimson hue, reminding Inuyasha of old, dried blood; congealed and oxidising into something _rotten_.

There was no doubt about it; the two images were of the same man.

"So… he wears a skin? Lots of people do that." he had to ask. It wasn't entirely uncommon, though the motivations behind wearing one were as vast as the number of skins available in the current market.

"Not the one he uses. No moniker, no glitch and no register when scanned at security checks. Completely illegal. We know he uses his position in the ACPD to gain access to the tech. But that's pussy corruption, hardly the worst this man has done."

"And which one is the..."

"Real one? What do _you_ think?" he took the hint. She beckoned the holograms and exchanged them for another, pushing it towards Inuyasha so that it sat afloat before him, "if you want to keep yourself up at night, read that."

He eyed the projection, noting the tiny scroll bar that sat on the right-hand side. Whatever this was, it was _long_ , "I'm supposed to read all this… right now?"

"Nah, consider it a bedtime story," she snipped at him, and he was officially _done_ with the attitude. Inuyasha turned his head, about to snap back for her curt tone when Kagome's _-Priestess'_ \- hand shot out, breaking through the impending tirade.

" _Alright_. This is going nowhere fast, so we need to boil it down," she stated, standing up from her seat, "we need to make something clear for Inuyasha. _This_ man is the one that blew up your building. _This_ man is the one that's been looking for a way into Taisho Corp for decades. _This_ man is sitting in the highest-ranking position in the Angel City Police Department. He may not have pulled the trigger, but he's pulling the _strings_ , and they are everywhere. Look at this," she pulled a hologram from the bunch, arranging it before him for he could see the fat lettering clear as day.

"BREACH AT TAISHO CORP: Billions of users data CORRUPTED!" The headline was shocking enough, his former employers being the centre of so many people's information. But the video that was embedded into the 'front page' was what caught his eye.

The little window showed _Onigumo_ , standing at a podium as he addressed the reporters and civilians that demanded to know what had happened to the HQ of _everyone's_ Interface. Flashes appeared now and then as photographers snapped images of the man, depicting a level of chaos Inuyasha couldn't see from the video's angle.

"And… _I did that_?" the weight of what had happened earlier that day just wouldn't stop _crushing_ him.

" _No_. Yes, but no. _He_ did this," Kagome maximised the screen, blowing up the video that was now looping through the same speech, "he is responsible for so much that has happened to you, to me, to _everyone_ here and to every single innocent person that lives in AC."

"People are disappearing at an alarming rate. He's the reason. We can't keep up. We need to get to the bottom of your role in this and take this fucker down." Slayer piped up once more, drawing Inuyasha's attention back to her.

"What…what is he doing with them?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know, eyes slipping back to the file she'd given him moments prior.

"No idea, all we know is that when they do go missing, it's without a fucking trace. No trail leading anywhere, it's as if they've all _poofed_ into thin air. He could be keeping them, killing them, hell...he might even be _eating_ them."

" _Alright,"_ his stomach turned.

"What? It's a legitimate concern," her eyebrow raised and she almost looked _happy_ at his queasiness.

But as he looked to each of them, Inuyasha knew he had never _truly_ felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, not like your average person that lived and breathed the harsh realities of living on this Earth. Despite everything, he'd had it easy. He'd been steered away, blanketed from the world around him the entire time. He'd only just begun to get a taste of what it was really like.

The turmoil of time _wasted_ was creeping up on him, and he pushed it back. He _chose_ to deal with his emotions later, the echoing memory of a pill tapping along the floor growing further and further away. _Good riddance._

Looking around the room, Inuyasha saw potential. The challenge in the eyes of the one named _Wolf_ had him riled up enough to want to prove a point. The hard glare of the one dubbed _Slayer_ brewed an energy in him that had him seeking revenge for a cause he wasn't yet privy to. The welcoming smile of _Ayame_ , so vague and encouraging, had him drawing a blank, but this time he was _aware_ of it. The hope that lingered in the lone eye of the _hag_ with the eyepatch seemed fresh, born anew with his arrival.

And the absolute faith that shone brightly from _Kagome's_ face was enough to convince Inuyasha that he needed to earn it.

As he opened his mouth to speak, unsure and yet _entirely_ sure of the words that would follow, the sliding door to the room they occupied opened. Fox -the _fucker_ that he was- chose that exact moment to pop into existence, a shit-eating grin smeared across his face that had Inuyasha's anger spiking all over again.

"I found something."

* * *

Fin


	8. Chapter 7: Circumspection

" _If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?" - Albert Einstein_

* * *

He didn't get it.

Inuyasha thought the point of getting information off his chip was to get information. Not… _nothing_.

"So…you found out it was tampered with?"

"Yes."

"But you don't know who did it?"

"Nope, not a clue. The only thing we do know is that it wasn't Naraku."

"How do you know- "

Fox cut Inuyasha off before he could finish. "And here's the thing, at first, I was almost sure no one actually _had_ tampered with it, but here…" a faint squeak came from the old chair he sat on as he rolled across the floor, pointing to yet another beat up, boxy monitor, "I found a super-duper inconspicuous file that had a _lil_ something in there that would explain your memory loss. See here?"

Inuyasha moved towards him, leaning over his shoulder to better look at the words on the screen. "What's that?"

"A memory suppressor. Written in a language, I haven't seen in _decades_. Literally, no one uses it anymore. It's dated back to _almost_ 20 years ago, right around the time you ended up in the system, correct? It's a _seriously_ uncommon practice but..." Fox's voice drifted off as he suddenly enhanced and Inuyasha's vision blurred, the brightness of the numbers not the only thing to put him on edge.

He straightened, taking a step back before stumbling a little on his feet. _Too long ago._

Emerald eyes danced gleefully across the lines of code that he'd purged from the dead chip. He barrelled onward, taking no notice of Inuyasha's sudden aversion to the news. "Sad thing is though; I couldn't have recovered your memories even if I _tried_. They weren't stored _in_ the chip, so that's on you if you ever get them back. And who knows what it suppressed, the only date I can find was the one it was uploaded on…" he trailed off as he turned his head, expecting to find Inuyasha instead of empty space. "Hello?"

Inuyasha braced a hand against the wall closest to him, hand clutching his chest as the news sent a shock through him that he couldn't control.

"Um, you OK?" the _dick_ asked, and no, he wasn't fucking _OK_.

"I…" Inuyasha forced the words that had lodged in his throat, "I had my Interface installed when I was 13…" he slumped against the wall, head cracking against it as he closed his eyes and drew in a breath. He had to get a grip of himself and fast. This wasn't the most shocking news he'd had so far.

 _Everything_ had been shocking.

"Right, yeah, no," the other man turned back to his toys, clicking away at the keyboard that hit Inuyasha's ears wrong, "you've had it longer than that. There's not much here, and most of it was nixed with your little _stunt_ when the girls tried to hijack you."

 _Tried_ to. Inuyasha scoffed. Clearly, they'd succeeded in the end.

"So, this means…that _some_ one…" Inuyasha's lips parted with a smack and he closed his eyes once more, dawning broaching his consciousness like a sunrise.

 _Totosai_.

He ran a hand through his hair, utter _defeat_ slamming into him finally. He was bone-tired now, even he could admit that.

It was all linked, every little thing about himself down to the very last detail. And now, there was some other entity in the mix. If Naraku -who Fox had coined as _the worst ever_ \- wasn't at the centre of it, then the web weaved was far more complicated than he had given it credit.

"But wait! You haven't even seen the coolest part!" Orange hair flopped around as he swept his arms over the monstrous conglomerate of screens. "Watch this."

Inuyasha waited as Fox typed impatiently, pacing behind him with shorter and shorter steps, wondering what more there could be when there seemed to be so little to latch onto _._ He eyed the characters and syntax for himself, not seeing anything unusual that would stand out from any other Interface chip available to the public.

As soon as Fox tapped on a particular file, every screen blanked out before blaring back to life, the same shade of red with that _fucking_ dog emblem covering them.

"What the fuck even _is that_?" Inuyasha marched up to the screens, zeroing in on one of the dozen that stared back at him.

" _You_ tell _me_." Inuyasha turned to find green eyes too close _again_ , their attention flicking up to the top of his head before they came back down to connect with his once more.

"Hey," Kagome popped her head through the door, "you want to get rest?"

Inuyasha was grateful for the interruption because this _punk_ had gotten on his last nerve.

"Don't you guys want to know about this?" he asked, knowing full well there had to be _some_ interest in who this other player was.

"We already know. Intel was sent through to us while we were filling you in. Fox has a…flair for the dramatics." Kagome was fighting the smile that was trying to break through, and she was doing a _terrible_ job of it.

" _You_ …" he turned back towards the _freak_ with the retro shrine.

"What? It's not like you have one of _our_ chips. When you do, I'll be able to wire shit straight to you. Besides, I wanted to see your face when you found out." The gleam of his _fangs_ as Fox smiled was what did it.

Inuyasha squared up to him, feet propelling him across the room quicker than anyone could have anticipated. Even himself.

"Alright!" Kagome jumped into action, quickly tugging Inuyasha away from his current target. "Enough of that. We've got a busy day tomorrow, and you need some rest."

He allowed her to pull him away and out of the room, eyes never leaving the emerald shade he would forever connotate with the term _asshole._

As the closing of the doors cut off his staring contest, Inuyasha shrugged the hand off his shoulder that was leading him. Kagome looked back at him, and an eyebrow tipped upwards at the abruptness.

He didn't want to be lead around anymore. He was officially _done_ with that, the resolve he'd found not too long ago holding true.

Even with her.

* * *

Their goodbye was a little more than awkward, but Inuyasha couldn't get to a place where he wasn't fliting between the absolute _mess_ that was his life and the feelings that Kagome was just _making_ him feel.

The two trains of thought weren't living harmoniously, the complete exhaustion he felt taking its toll on him. He'd cease talking altogether, not that they had truly been conversing. Not unless Kagome counted the occasional grunt as a conversation.

The plushness of the bed made to perfection called out to him, drawing him closer and closer to it. He ignored everything around him, eager to put the day from hell behind him finally. The lack of sleep had caught up, shutting him down completely as he crashed onto the mattress with a _thump_.

As he drifted off to sleep, the hint of a smile tugged on the corner of his lips. For the first time in years, Inuyasha knew he would sleep well.

* * *

That was a lie because Inuyasha woke with a start and _scrambled_ , the scents that crawled their way up his nostrils, alarming him with their unfamiliarity. He calmed quickly enough, realising where he was within a few seconds of eyeing his surroundings. But his heart was racing, and he felt nowhere near _rested_. The musty scent of his clothes lingered, and he fought the urge to sneeze, rubbing at his nose furiously. His ears darted around in every direction, grabbing onto small sounds here and there as power ran through the walls. The jolt back into wakefulness wasn't the kind he was used to, and he pondered it for a moment.

Because he could.

Inuyasha hadn't dreamt last night -he was _sure_ of it- and he could only assume it was the level of exhaustion he'd hit that had his lights _out_. He wasn't awash with images of dreams he could only vaguely recall, instead of coming to with a heightened awareness of his environment through scent and sound. Pills that lingered at the back of his head flitted into his thoughts for a moment, but he relented.

 _This_ wake-up call was far better than the kind he had been used to for so long.

Inuyasha glanced around the room, looking for a projection or _anything_ that could tell him the time. Being cut off from his Interface was proving to be inconvenient, _quickly._ As the soles of his feet connected with the chilled surface of the floor, the sound of a short, sharp bell filled the room. His ears swivelled around his head, chasing the sounds as it bounced off the walls.

"Y…yes?" Inuyasha called out, smacking a hand to his forehead as soon as the words left his mouth. He hopped up, smoothing down the… _full suit_ he'd crashed in. He'd slept in his clothes last night which meant he probably looked as unkempt as he felt. _Perfect._

He moved towards the front door - _his_ front door now- clocking the panel to the right of its frame. He pushed the most prominent button that would surely open it, a pop-out projection of Kagome standing on the other side of the door meeting him instead.

"Inuyasha?" her voice called through the speaker in the panel, and he pressed another button, mildly irritated at the way his claw dug into the rubbery surface. There were some things about this place that was just _weird_ and outdat-

"Hello?" Kagome called out again, and Inuyasha jammed his fist into the _stupid_ thing, fist popping through its facing easily before he pulled back just as quickly. The regret was _instantaneous,_ and the door slid open to reveal Kagome, looking at him standing there in his _fucked up_ suit with a metal fucking _grill_ hanging around his wrist.

"Uh…" he raised his hand in greeting on reflex, cringing at the clatter of the now ruined panel as it fell from his wrist to his elbow because he'd chosen _that_ hand to use as a complete idiot."You should've just come in."

If she had anything to say about his appearance, she kept it to herself. "I wanted to give you some privacy. I think…you deserve that." She smiled, but it wasn't the kind he wanted; he took it as pitying. He felt that tiny knock to his pride.

"Well, thanks," the crash of metal meeting the floor cut the conversation off for him, "I'll…I'll pay for that."

"No need," a breathy laugh followed, and he swooned. _Gross._ "We have to head back into the city soon. Take a shower. There are clothes in the cabinets. You should be able to find something that fits. Meet me in the canteen, and we'll get something to eat."

Kagome began to move away before he called out to her. "Wait, how the fuck do I get there?"

She smiled brightly at him, and he was suddenly blinded. "You're telling me you don't want to test out that nose of yours?"

He smirked -just a _little_ \- because he couldn't deny that he liked the sound of that.

* * *

Finding out that Miroku had somehow ' _located'_ him in such a short time was a little surprising, but not enough to make Inuyasha react with more than a huff. Because he didn't _wanna_ talk to him.

He grumbled into the cup of noodles he's been slurping down before Kagome -no, _Priestess_ \- had delivered the news.

"You should see what he wants. See if he'll tell you anything." Slayer piped up, and he was even _more_ annoyed at the reminder of her existence. He knew she was there; he was just dutifully ignoring that fact.

"Yeah well…fuck that. How did he even find me?" he knew he sounded petulant again, but it had been a total of _not even_ twenty-four hours since he'd left Miroku in the dust - _literally_ \- and it wasn't long enough for his liking.

"Irrelevant. Suck it up, _Dog Boy_. You don't get to take a break with all the shit you've caus-"

" _Me_?"

"Yeah, you," she pushed the plate she'd been ignoring aside, far too quick to take up the challenge. She'd been waiting for her opportunity. "You just dismantled Taisho Corp's entire master database _and_ plunged AC into complete darkness, and you don't even know how you did it, do you? What good are you to us now that you've served your _supposed_ purpose?"

"And what about you, huh? Shooting up a civilian space a usual _Monday afternoon_ for you?" Inuyasha was more than happy to hash it out with the little witch that had-

" _Guys_. Please. It's been a long few days for everyone. Can we just take a second to eat? _Please?_ " Kagome reiterated, a hand resting gently on her forehead. She had been intervening between them at nearly every turn since they'd been forced into each other's company and Inuyasha felt bad for a moment.

But only a moment because the bitch just _had_ to keep going. "Mm. You gonna keep jumping to his defence? Because he'll never buck up if you keep doing that."

"Hold u-"

"Sango…he just got here last night." _Sango._

"And what of it, _Kagome_?"

The atmosphere shifted, an intensity that had Inuyasha instantly uncomfortable building as the two women sitting at the booth with him stared each other down. He shrunk back, digging back into the food he'd been ravenous for previously. He became painfully aware of the clothes that didn't fit quite right made, shifting as they scratched against his skin. He was trying to be invisible for once, and they weren't helping.

"One day. That's all I ask." Kagome held her friends…co-workers… _superiors'_ gaze, waiting for her response.

"One day. That's all we can afford."

* * *

"What's her deal?" Inuyasha couldn't hide his annoyance if he tried, feet stomping into the floor of the corridor Kagome was leading him down.

"She's… stressed."

"And that's somehow my fault?"

"You're… a liability in her eyes."

"How? Was it not _that_ woman that fired a fucking gun-"

"Look, _yes_ , but it's not what you think. We'd been tracking Naraku, and everything pinpointed to your _exact_ location when we…he's been trying to infiltrate Taisho Corp. for a _while_ now- did you even read the briefing San- _Slayer_ gave you?" She slipped up again.

"Slayer, huh? Don't you mean Sango? And _Priestess_? What's all that about _Kagome_? Why don't you answer that while we're at it?"

"Inuyasha, I don't want to argue with you. There's _so_ much that I don't even know where to start. I'm trying to- "

"Trying to what? Confuse the absolute _fuck_ out of me? More than I already am?"

"No! You should know that's not my intention- "

"And how would I know that, huh? You've given me nothing to go on other than some fucking cartoon _villain_ that's all smoke and mirrors and _conspiracy!_ The only thing I've seen with my own eyes is _you_ and those other two at every fucking turn!" their voices had increased steadily, drawing closer to each other with each passing blow.

"You think I want to hurt you? You think I'm running myself ragged trying to get to the bottom of what's happening here for the fun of it?!"

"I don't know what the fuck you're actually doing! So why don't you _enlighten_ me!"

Chests heaved as the pair of them took a moment to catch their breaths, each backing up a fraction to give each other some space. They'd gotten in each other's faces before Inuyasha had realised it, their sudden screaming match bouncing around the empty corridor.

He was hit full force with a sense of Déjà vu, and the feeling of having been there before caused his mind to _halt_.

It wasn't something he was used to.

Inuyasha laughed suddenly, the sound bursting from his mouth before he could think to stop it. The look on Kagome's face was a picture, the way it scrunched up making him double over as his guffaw turned into full-on _fits_ of laughter.

"What… do you need me to take you back to the Twins?" she looked worried now, and it did nothing to help him quell the sniggers that were still making their way out of him.

"Who… _no_ … wait…" Inuyasha stood up straight, trying fucking _hard_ to stop laughing because he knew that it looked ridiculous, given the circumstances, "I-I'm sorry." He rubbed at his eyes, laughter dying down as he tried to compose himself. It didn't go so well. "Do you remember how we used to argue in High School?" Inuyasha looked at her, the merriment he felt making his face hurt a little. It wasn't every day he laughed like that.

"What?" Now it was her turn to be confused.

"Yeah, we were at each other's necks just like now, but back _then."_ The joy of being able to remember that so clearly was _something_.

"Y-yeah…you remember?" A tiny smile quirked on her face, and the mood shifted then, "I wasn't sure if…you'd remembered me that much."

" _What_?" That was surprising to hear. He thought…she _knew_.

"C'mon, we're wasting time, and I have to get you into the city undetected. We need to see what Miroku has to say." Kagome led him to the hanger that housed every vehicle imaginable, marching towards the bike he was beginning to hate.

"W-wait…" his steps faltered, realising just what they were about to do, "are we…" his eyes gravitated towards the large metal doors that he now knew had _warp tunnel_ behind them.

"Yes, it's the only way to get out of here." Kagome turned her attention back to the bike, pushing a release that had the seat popping up and revealing a hidden compartment. "Here."

She handed him a helmet, one that looked suspiciously like… there was fucking space for his _ears_.

"What is this?" He held it out between them.

"Your helmet."

"Why is it…why does it look _made_ for me?"

"Because it is." She held his gaze steadily.

"You…were _really_ planning on bringing me here. Wherever the fuck we are." It wasn't a question, he knew the answer but just saying it out loud made it more _real_. He recalled Fox using the term 'hijack', and he was pissed _yet again._

"Yes, but you came with me on your own."

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

"Here, I'll show you," she huffed and grabbed the helmet from him, throwing it back onto the bike that sat idle. She stood next to him, a beam of light suddenly appearing before them that had him jumping out of his skin because he just wasn't _expecting_ it, "this is the footage from last night."

"How do you have- "

"Just watch."

Inuyasha decided to do just that, watching the little projection that floated between them. He'd surmised the footage was from Kagome's point of view, finding it vaguely interesting considering Eye-Cams wasn't a commonality, according to the data that he had trudged through for over a year. They were typically only used by… _police_ officers.

"Hey, are those… _doctors_ … cops?" For the life of him, the questions he was asking would not sound normal and _not dumb_ for fuck sake-

"No. _Watch_ ," she relented, smacking his arm lightly for his distraction.

Inuyasha tutted and went back to watching her projection, wincing when the bang he heard was the same one from last night. The noise was loud in his ears, the memory of physically being there cutting through him sharply.

Kagome squeezed the arm she'd slapped a second ago.

Inuyasha tried to stay calm.

He watched as Kagome ran through the destruction, smoke, and debris whirling around her as she pushed through. A faint growl began to build in his chest because he didn't want her to be there. Not in the middle of something like that.

Screams and shouts filled his ears, and they flattened, a few of them repeating on him as he remembered them. He was thankful when Kagome must have taken notice and turned the volume down. She didn't acknowledge it, watching the screen intently.

From her perspective, she was a little too small to see around the structures that blocked her path. Scattered chunks of concrete and metal were everywhere, and she was too tiny, too small, too _perfect_ -

And there he was.

The second time of being met with an image of himself in _that state_ was no more shocking than the first. His hair flung wildly around him as he darted forward and away from Kagome's line of sight, taking those red eyes and terrifying blue pupils with him. He was _chasing_ someone. The fact that he had changed _form_ , not too unlike his monthly cycle of-

Suddenly, Kagome yanked a cylindrical device that must have been strapped to her back, bringing it round to her front. His jaw dropped when she did _something_ to it, the thing suddenly coming apart to transform into the _giant ass bow_ she's been carrying when he saw her enter Taisho Corp. He snuck a peek at her, noticing the 'bow' that he wouldn't have assumed as one strapped to her back.

"Renkotsu!" her shout was evident despite the low volume and Inuyasha tore his eyes away from her, watching as her past-self barrelled into the mayhem.

"He's an expert in explosives." Kagome -the real Kagome- chimed in.

" _Explosives_?" Inuyasha fully turned his attention to the projection, wanting to catch a glimpse at the fucking explosives expert he now had to assume was the mastermind behind all the _explosions._

He watched unblinking as Kagome ran through the smoke, the odd cough leaving her here and there. He grimaced as she ran deeper and deeper into the chaos, the odd lick of a flame touching her occasionally. He was about to stop watching once more when a vicious growl ripped into the air, the hair on the back of his neck standing at attention. He watched, perplexed by what could have possibly made a sound like _that_.

It turns out; it was _him_.

"Inuyasha!" Holographic Kagome shouted out to him, and he was amazed when the bow she carried began to light up, string manifesting before her out of fucking _nowhere_. He couldn't see much around her weapon, but he could see his own hair flying around as he went after that Renkotsu fucker.

Inuyasha tried _hard_ to remember any of this, and he drew a blank. A complete fucking _blank_.

"Stop!" A bright light burst from the projection, and he squinted, hand coming up to shield his eyes.

"What was that?" He had to ask; it'd been so blinding from her point of view he couldn't get a good look.

"Me." Inuyasha looked at Kagome then, not fully understanding what she meant, but the video was carrying on regardless.

"Inuyasha!" Holo-Gome shouted once more, and he held his breath as he turned towards her, eyes slanting on her.

His heart stopped.

He stared numbly as this _other_ version of himself stalked towards her, coming closer to the camera -to _Kagome_ \- with each step. He braced himself for impact, watching in abject horror. It was stupid; she was standing next to him unharmed. Yet the idea of her getting so close to _this_ was setting his need to protect her alight.

Even if it was from himself.

The growling that hadn't relented ceased as he got close to her, the view of his face being cut off from her as he got a little _too_ close to her. Her vision impaired by the silver hair that had come loose from its tie and he could hear the sounds of snuffling as he…he was _sniffing_ her. For fuck sake this creepy-ass version of himself was _sniffing_ her, and he was watching the video _with her_ and-

She cut the video, hologram disappearing into thin air. "You followed me after that, and I managed to coerce you onto the back of the bike. I can show you the rest if you want?"

"I'm good. I…I believe you." He didn't need the visual confirmation anymore, 'waking up' on the back of her bike yesterday was proof enough after everything he'd just seen. Inuyasha was thankful she'd taken mercy and cut the video feed when she did. The heat that had built in his face was going to take a while to cool off.

"OK." She turned back to the bike, grabbing onto the helmet that had been _made_ for him and holding it out to him once more. "You ready?"

"No."

He took the helmet anyway.

* * *

The bar he'd chosen to meet at was questionable at best. A fucking shithole at worst. The overhead lights that flickered here and there tinged the place with a muted glow, highlighting the dust scattered on the various decorations hung from the walls. They were... _damp_? The walls were damp too. If inconspicuous was what he was going for, this wasn't it. This was just _grotty_.

Taking a seat at the back booth like instructed, Inuyasha sat facing the door, not bothering with the pleasantries of ordering a drink in this _fine_ establishment. By the looks of the clientele, he couldn't trust what was on offer.

Tapping idly at the sticky surface of the table, his eyes danced around the small crowd that made up the little dive situated in the east side's Red-Light District. Grizzled men with bodged cybernetics accosted the few women present; lonely old fuckers squirrelled themselves into corners to drown their sorrows, the dishevelled look of Miroku walking up to him-

"Were you _ever_ my friend?" Inuyasha blurted out, immediately regretting the words. It had been a long time since he had felt... _hurt_.

"Of _course_ , I was your friend… I _am_ your friend." Miroku leaned over the sticky table, arms reaching forward to grasp onto Inuyasha. He leaned back, the intimacy of the gesture making him uncomfortable on a good day, let alone _any_ day now with the newfound knowledge of his dutiful _'best friend'._

Miroku remembered himself then, pulling back as if he'd been burned before slumping into the battered booth chair. His hands ran nervously over his face and through his hair as if to collect himself, and Inuyasha took the time to access the man in front of him. It was hard to believe Inuyasha had only seen him yesterday.

Dirty clothes, easily a few days old. Greasy hair, as if he'd forgone a shower for more than a few. Sunken eyes from lack of sleep, greyish tinge to his complexion, stubble grazing his jaw, hands shaking with-

"So…" Miroku cut him off from his thoughts, "obviously, I asked you here to talk..." he trailed off then, a meek voice coming from the person in front of him. He refused to meet Inuyasha's eyes for the first time that he could remember. There was absolutely no way the man before him was the Miroku that he had come to know.

But that was just it. Inuyasha _didn't_ know who Miroku was. Not really.

"Is your name even Miroku?"

Eyes raised to make contact then as he let out a puff of air, visibly deflating while his hands came to rest idly before him. " _Yes_ , my name is Miroku. I didn't...I didn't lie to you about that. It's...complicated."

"Complicated? _Complicated?_ You wanna talk about fuckin' _complicated,_ huh? My entire stinking _life_ is one big complication, so why don't you cut the shit for two fucking seconds and start explaining things,!" he paused for a moment to breathe through the pounding in his ears, blood rushing to the surface as anger began to seep out of every pore, "Start talking. Now."

The picture of utter defeat, Miroku chewed his lip as he nodded solemnly, clearly collecting himself as he found the words that Inuyasha so desperately needed to hear. He'd give him that. He'd give him a minute to figure out just _how_ he wanted to answer to everything he had done. Even if he wasn't sure exactly _what_ that was.

"When we were younger-"

"How young?"

"...seven."

A clawed hand slammed down onto the table, jarring Miroku from his slumped position as Inuyasha lost his cool within the first few seconds of his 'explanation'.

"Listen, _listen_...I need to start from the beginning. Otherwise, you're just going to ask more questions. It would make more sense for me to start there, OK?" Holding his hands up, Miroku waited for Inuyasha to choose his path.

Deep breaths and a mental countdown from ten, Inuyasha reasoned with himself that Miroku was right in this instance even if he was feeling far from reasonable. "Go on."

"OK...OK. When we were younger, we were placed at the same school in that shitty little neighbourhood, remember? Well, I was there as a...guardian of sorts." Miroku struggled with the term, causing Inuyasha to narrow his eyes on the uneasy sight of him.

"I already had a guardian, what the fuck do you mean _guardian_?"

"Not like Totosai... I mean we _are_ the same age after all...but that's neither here nor there," Miroku waved his hand, deeming that piece of information moot, "I guess you could say I was placed as your…handler? It's not like there's an official title for it. What better way to keep an eye on someone than through his best friend, right?" Miroku laughed nervously.

Because a volcano was about to erupt, and its name was Mount Inuyasha.

"Who the fuck put you there? What the _fuck_ is going on Miroku?" Inuyasha braced himself on the table, mind racing as he leaned towards him, pupils dilating as he narrowed in on every little crack and crevice of Miroku's stupid, lying, _bastard_ face. If he wanted to play _coy_ , he'd catch him. He'd catch onto him before he even _thought_ to deceive.

"I can't really...say for certain." A pin drop could be heard between the two, the air around them becoming a vacuum as time froze and they stared blankly at each other.

"You can't say."

"Not...really?"

"For certain?"

"Certainly." Huh. Maybe not _everything_ had been a complete lie if this _dumb_ as fuck conversation was anything to go by.

He took note of the time on his new wristwatch, something that he'd yet to get used to. He had two minutes to get as much information out of Miroku as he could before he had to move on and get back to Kagome. Time-keeping was of the utmost importance, according to her.

"Alright listen, I'm done. Tell me who the fuck you've been working for this whole time, and I might not reach across this table for your _neck._ " Inuyasha cracked his knuckles for emphasis, but Miroku didn't take the bait, looking at him as if he's just made the most absurd joke.

"You're not gonna kick my ass Inuyasha. I'm still your _friend._ " Miroku held his gaze assuredly for good measure, trying to convey what he couldn't quite say through his eyes.

"Yeah, some friend you've been." With that, Inuyasha stood to leave, knowing without acknowledging that he wasn't going to get anything worthwhile out of him. He stopped when a hand shot out to grasp his wrist. He turned his head, expecting to see Miroku's pleading look of remorse but was flummoxed to see him leaning around the booth, eyes trained on the back entrance of the bar.

"Look... there are eyes everywhere OK, and now that you've gone dark there will be...people will be looking for you. Just, stay on alert. Please?" Miroku tugged a little on the appendage he was holding, needing verbal confirmation.

"OK, OK, jeez, lay off. I've been _watched_ my entire fucking life apparently. Think I can handle a few goons coming my way." Inuyasha tugged his hand free of the man that held him hostage. _Tried_ to hold him hostage. Had fucking _succeeded_ to, until recently.

"We're done." And he meant it, even if he felt a little twinge in his chest at the finality.

"Yeah…" Miroku reached for the duffel that Inuyasha hadn't noticed him come in with, lifting it onto the table before he pushed it towards Inuyasha. "Take these."

He eyed the bag wearily, knowing full well what was inside but hesitant to touch anything that was a _solid_ reminder of his former life.

"You're going to need them."

* * *

It wasn't until Inuyasha was back at _base,_ as Kagome had called it, that he realised the considerable risk Miroku had taken in meeting him. He was so fucking _pissed_ at the time; the dots didn't connect automatically for him until he could take a breather. He thought he had been paying attention to the little details, but he wasn't paying attention to the _right_ ones. It had taken the silence of his new room for him to realise his mistake.

Whoever Miroku was working for…they didn't know he had met him.

If Miroku wasn't working for Onigumo, or Naraku - _whatever_ his name was- meant that he was even more out of sorts than previously. The wrath of the other agents when he and Kagome had returned with nothing to go on was enough to have his head spinning, opting to let them hash it out between themselves when one too many names he didn't know had found their way into the mix. Fortunately, they'd let him leave without so much as a peep, the _liability_ that he was.

Whoever had tampered with his chip… _implanted_ his chip when he was far too young and thrown Miroku of all fucking people into his life was still out there and had probably _been_ there with him every step of the way.

It was all becoming too much.

He'd hid in his room, shoving the duffel Miroku had given him to the back of the cabinets, reminiscent of his treatment of them before. He needed to compartmentalise everything that had happened in the last few days, and he couldn't do that with their stench drawing his attention every few minutes. He thought to eat, he tried to sleep, but his brain just wouldn't _shut off_.

Inuyasha pushed off the bed he'd tried to make himself comfortable in and failed miserably at, grabbing the pen file that had been given to him the night before as it sat idle on the nightstand. He was going to finally read into all the _"evil"_ things this Naraku character had done, not only for himself but for Kagome's sake. He didn't want her catching heat for his lack of knowledge about… _everything_.

He padded over to the armchair that sat next to a small table and tapped the light that sat attached to the wall above them. A faint glow lit the small seating area as he settled himself, leaning back and finding a comfortable position. He was going to read every single thing, every single word, every single fucking _letter_ in this file, and he was going to _retain_ that information.

He was ready.

* * *

_Fin_


	9. Chapter 8: Clockwork

_"It's funny how the colours of the real world only seem really real when you watch them on a screen." – Anthony Burgess_

* * *

_The concrete scraped against his cheek, stinging as he slid along it. Gravel and grime made its way into the fresh cuts that sprouted along his arms, bringing new tears to his eyes to wash away the old. He came to a halt, small ears flattening to his head with the booming shout that filled the alleyway._

_His vision was encompassed in fiery red, shielding him from the world around him as he curled into himself. Tiny arms wrapped around his head, the frantic rocking of his frame willing the horrors away._

_**"Inuyasha!"** _

* * *

The pain in his neck niggled, but not enough to rouse him entirely from the comfortable slumber Inuyasha had found himself in. The light snoring was interrupted by a cough, a clawed hand reaching up to scratch the ear that wouldn't chill the _fuck out._ Reaching for a cover, he grasped at air when he came up empty-handed, consciousness finally getting her hands on him. Golden eyes cracked open, and his forehead creased when he found himself staring at the underside of a table.

…the table that he had been sitting at last night.

His head shot up, a grunt leaving him as it cracked against the leg of the chair he'd also been sitting _in_ last night. He rubbed at the sore spot, a hiss leaving him as his head fell back down to the floor with a resounding thud.

It looked like he hadn't made it the few feet to his bed after getting through the enormous file that had been given to him.

It wasn't surprising really, the sheer amount of information that these people had on Naraku – or Onigumo, _whichever_ \- was astounding. Inuyasha had drowned in names, dates, and figures; cross-referencing as much as he could. As a now- _former_ data analyst, he could appreciate the effort they'd put into the numbers.

And there were _a lot_ of them.

Twenty years as the Commissioner of an entire city's law enforcement, used and abused at every possible turn. _Government conspiracy_ seemed so out of whack, so fantastical that Inuyasha had found himself bursting into laughter on occasion, the absurdity of some of this pricks antics too blatant to go unseen.

Inuyasha would have never looked twice, every article he scanned with _Onigumo's_ face plastered on it had him drawing a blank. The guy was _everywhere_ , had his slimy fingers in every crack in AC, and Inuyasha had no fucking clue who he was before all this.

Putting those thoughts to a screeching halt when he realized he was still staring at the underside of a fucking _table_ , Inuyasha tucked and rolled before picking himself up off the ground. He cracked his neck to the side to ease the tension that had built in the awkward position he slept in, thankful for the arguably calm nature of his waking.

Flickers of a dream stuck with him, a fierce shade of red flashing through his mind that sent a shiver up his spine. His throat tightened as he lingered on it, but the picture didn't expand further. As discomforting as it was, he hoped the imagery would stick with him. He needed to piece together as much as possible, whether it be events his head had concocted to torture him with or memories of something real.

No matter how blindly panicked it made him feel.

With a shake of his head, he took a deep breath to ground himself, glad that the sting of his nose working overtime had subsided. The dull ache in the ear he'd slept on was growing faint, drawing his attention to the fact that he didn't hear every little noise at max volume.

He wasn't painfully aware of everything around him through sound and smell like he had been the few days prior, all of it blending into one overwhelming force that had his head spinning. Instead, he was able to focus on the nuances, pick them apart like he could before.

He was just more… _conscious_ of it than he had ever been.

Inuyasha closed his eyes, content to let the hum of the room around him lull him into a _somewhat_ peaceful state of mind. The lack of scents other than his own and a trace amount of Kagome lingering was comforting, the quirk of his lip nearly forcing him to smile. If this were how he woke up from now on, he'd take it.

Hard, uncomfortable floor and all.

He glanced down at the watch still attached to his wrist, eyebrows shooting into his hairline as he noticed the time. He had only slept for three hours, and he felt… _rested_.

For the last few years, sleep had been a bitter topic for him. He needed it all the fucking time, but it never did anything for him. Walking around like a zombie after hours and hours of fitful rest was his forte; it had been for a long time.

And no matter _who_ he spoke to, _what_ he took or how _hard_ he tried, nothing seemed to pull him out of the slump he'd been living in.

If a _slump_ was what you could call it.

Realistically, Inuyasha knew the change of pace likely boiled down to two options. Either the Interface Inuyasha had lived with longer than even _he_ knew had been well and truly _fucked with,_ or the countless pills he'd been handed time and time again to 'try' did far more harm than good.

He grimaced, knowing it was likely a mixture of both.

Dates, doctors, appointments, and _memories_ started coming together, forcing a timeline of events to connect before him that he wasn't sure he wanted to address yet.

He didn't want the feeling of being _robbed_ to consume him anymore.

His hand reached to dig into the pocket that wasn't there, ready to smash the ever-living _fuck_ out of the pill bottle that was no longer with him. His chin smacked his chest when he looked down at his attire, scowl deepening when fucking _duh_ – he was wearing clothes that _weren't_ company allocated...sort of.

The smooth material where a suit pocket would have been laid flat, no sign of any paraphernalia present.

_You don't need them._

Kagome's voice broke through his spiralling, forcing him to recall how _sure_ she had sounded. Try as he might, there was just too much going on in his head, and he couldn't get it to simmer. The automatic reaction to reach for what he'd always known bothered him, heart pumping a little faster as his anger grew all the more.

The last few days had felt like a dream, and the walls began to move around him as he felt a shift in his gut. He was working himself into an internal frenzy, the physical reaction to coming off his meds and the mental hoops he was jumping through to tie everything together a horrendous combination.

He was detoxing _,_ he knew _that_ much, but the impatience he felt for the end outweighed reason.

_You don't need them._

Tutting at himself in aggravation, Inuyasha yanked at the shirt and pulled it over his head, hurling it across the room. He headed to the bathroom, looking to distract himself with a shower.

If he couldn't think about one thing at a time, taking a little time to not think _at all_ might do him some good.

He entered the bathroom, trying to be quiet despite knowing there was no reason to. It was still early enough, but he was positive that these _agents_ that he'd come to board with were already up and lurking around. From his brief stay here -not that two days was much to go by- it seemed that they were everywhere at once.

That was the beauty of having your very own _warp tunnel_ , he supposed. Inuyasha determined he'd get to the bottom of this base, bunker, facility, _whatever_ it was soon enough.

Whether anyone helped him get there or not was of no consequence.

He needed to get to the bottom of why the fuck he was here, and _where_ 'here' was felt like a good starting point.

Realizing that he was thinking anyway, despite his attempt to just _be_ for a moment, Inuyasha stripped the rest of his clothes. He ducked into the shower and waved a hand over the sensor on the control panel, a small yelp leaving his throat when the spray that suddenly descended on him was too hot for his liking. He backed away, fiddling with the dials that would bring the water down to a manageable temperature.

This place was old but _not,_ and he couldn't get his head around the odd mix of technology that made up its basic amenities. Some things had clearly been updated to fit modern standards, others seemingly dating back to a time he couldn't put a finger on. The panel he was grappling with proved that, dealing with its physical buttons an absolute nightmare for his claw-tipped fingers.

While he rushed through the most unpleasant shower – the one meant to calm his nerves - Inuyasha berated himself for even caring.

Like he even _knew_ how well he had it before.

Everything Inuyasha had then had been _given_ to him, seemingly for some grander plan he had no knowledge of. He felt the resentment bubble, any pride he had for the place he called home washing itself down the drain along with the water he stood under.

If he didn't earn it, he didn't want it.

Standing in his new but _old_ shower, Inuyasha's darkened mood lightened a notch, knowing that a space had been made for him here – wherever here was – and it was somehow thanks to Kagome. He had lost his sense of family, sense of home, and she'd pulled him out of there without a second thought. Had been actively _trying_ to, apparently. The bitter feeling of knowing the ones he loved having a hand in his turmoil soothed by her caring nature.

She'd always been like that – he thought – and he was glad to see that trait had carried on into adulthood. He'd have to corner her at some point, actually have a fucking _conversation_ with the girl.

She'd suddenly become the centre of his world in a matter of a few days, and he didn't even know why she was still in Angel City, let alone flying through the air on hoverbikes and using _dumb as fuck_ codenames.

And she'd stocked that cabinet with clothes for _him_ , knowing he would have nothing to fall back on.

He wasn't exactly pleased with the options, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth either. He arrived with nothing other than the suit on his back- an article he hoped had been fucking _destroyed_ , the lack of interface taking with it his ability to access the money in his bank account.

The account that…no longer existed.

Guilt slammed into him full force, the realization that it wasn't just _his_ shit that had gone up in flames, but _everyone else's_ shit too. He _knew_ , that headline he'd been shown giving that much away, but it was just too much information to take in at once for him to really pick up what had been put down.

That information was starting to pile on top of him at an alarming rate.

He sped through finishing his shower, hands shaking as the magnitude of what he'd done at Taisho Corp. got the best of him. He needed to find Kagome and figure out exactly what he had done, glancing at a headline on a hologram wasn't enough to go by.

Blips of what he'd read on the file last night made their way to the forefront of his mind, but he tried to dial it back. He knew he would be hashing out the details soon enough if Slayer's 'one day' time frame was anything to go by. And if what he had read was _true_ \- not that he had reason to doubt it at this point – then…yeah.

One day could cost a lot.

Rushing from the bathroom without bothering to grab a towel, Inuyasha threw the cabinet doors open that held an array of clothes that didn't fit quite right. They'd do all the drying for him, time was something he didn't want to waste anymore. He'd had a day of 'rest', and now it was time to get his ass into gear.

For what, he wasn't sure.

Inuyasha yanked the black cargos over his legs, engaging the auto-belt so they stayed _up_ despite their looseness. The black shirt he grabbed was a little baggy, but it would do until he gave a fuck. Tugging it over his head, he paid no mind to the dampness that seeped into it, pulling his soaking wet hair out to lay flat against his back. He whirled, looking around for anything to tie his hair back and came up short.

He'd have to figure that out later.

The boots he had worn yesterday sat by the door, and he shoved his feet into them, pausing for a moment when he noticed the shiny new panel that had been fitted to the door's frame. He hadn't noticed its appearance last night, the meeting with Miroku sucking up what little energy he had left. Taking his time to hit the right buttons, he waited the milliseconds it took for the gap to slide open enough for him to exit. He was geared up and ready to make a run for it-

Only to be met with Kagome waiting for him on the other side.

"Hi," she greeted, eyes sparkling in that way that he found annoyingly dazzling.

"H-hey," he had a million questions, all of them wanting to spill out of his mouth at once, but when he opened it to continue nothing followed. He'd been banking on the time it would take to find her to gather his thoughts.

"Sleep well?" she nudged, eyes dancing around his face in a way that had him wishing he could read her mind.

"Uh…" he fiddled awkwardly with the waistline of the trousers he wore, "as well as I could…with my bedtime story."

She didn't need the details of _where_ he woke up.

"So, you read the file?"

"Yeah."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"Um… _everything_."

"OK," she agreed, turning a little towards the direction she came from, "how about we start by actually showing you around the place? We'll talk as we go?"

"That would be…good." _Good_ wasn't the word, but his earlier resolve to get a better idea of where the fuck he was had just been handed to him on a silver platter. He gestured for her to take the lead, hoping it would be one of the last times he would need to be totted around like a lost puppy.

" _Wait_ , the data breach, the one I did. How bad is it?" Inuyasha blurted out, desperate to know what kind of pandemonium he had caused to the world above him.

She turned, ready with her answer as if she'd been expecting it, "Failsafes were in place within the hour, basic profiles are up and running as we speak. Everything is _fine_ Inuyasha, but everyone is going through ID verification. Authenticating is underway, we couldn't have asked for a better result, honestly."

"…excuse me?"

"You read the file, yes?"

"Yes."

"So, you know the ACPD has been pushing Taisho Corp. for access to Interface user data for some time now."

"…yes."

"Your…interference," her face twisted at the word, "has bought some time. Political unrest is high, people are scared… Naraku's using that to sway lawmakers into baking him for access. You can't have that if there isn't much to gain access to."

"OK…alright. So, I didn't end the word in one fell swoop?" Inuyasha sagged with relief. He didn't feel absolved, but the possibility of people rioting in the streets because of something _he did_ was unthinkable.

Kagome snorted, hand coming to cover her mouth as she giggled, "No, you didn't end the world," she spun on her heels, fast pace set immediately, "I'll take you down to the Arena first… that's where we spend most of our time."

"We? Wait, _Arena_?" he jogged to catch up with her, taken back by the term.

"Me and the others," she marched on, "and it's just a name, you'll see."

"The ones I've met?"

"Yes. There aren't many others here."

"…others?" he pressed.

She turned and smiled then, and the coyness had his interest peaking, "Maybe you'll get to meet him at some point."

 _Him_.

Inuyasha fought the urge to suddenly lash out. He had no right to feel… _jealous_ about a potential someone that made her smile like _that_. Even if it made him want to smash his face into the wall next to him.

They walked through the corridor he was now somewhat familiar with, the scent trails that he and Kagome had been leaving behind easy enough to pick up on. There were others in the mix, but none of them were fresh. He glanced back towards his room, gauging that he was the only one staying in that section. Now that his nose had dialled in, he might be able to find his way around this place.

Of course, that sentiment didn't last when Kagome chucked a sudden left, heading down a hallway he was _sure_ hadn't been there before.

He hadn't been _that_ out of it when he arrived…had he?

Inuyasha followed her regardless, noticing the lack of anything implying where they were or where they were headed. His eyes darted here, there, and everywhere, taking in everything he could to try and get a read on this place.

The barebones were bland, nothing about the walls and floors giving away any hints about its origins. The layout made no fucking sense, and Inuyasha was now _positive_ the corridor they were walking down had been non-existent before now. He looked back over his shoulder, staring in the direction they'd come from.

Or maybe, it was the _entrance_ that hadn't been there.

The scents that filled the space were familiar, tipping him off that they belonged to the people he wasn't particularly fond of. He'd memorize them soon enough, even if he didn't want to. He tamped down the distaste, knowing he was the one encroaching on their space despite his right to be pissed at _everything_ right now.

He wasn't bothered about offending them, not in the slightest. He just needed to keep his cool for now.

His eyes narrowed in on the swish of Kagome's hair against her lower back, the way the stark fluorescent lighting made it glisten even in its harshness, drawing him in like a moth to a flame.

He knew _exactly_ why he was trying to keep his cool around them, and it had everything to do with the human riddle in front of him.

Kagome stopped abruptly at a set of metal doors, the _only_ doors to have made an appearance so far. Inuyasha reeled back, catching himself before nearly barreling into her.

He'd _maybe_ gotten a little too close.

She opened the facing that stuck out from the wall beside it, punching a few of the buttons on the number pad. Inuyasha had to wonder why some things hadn't been updated to an automated system. _Buttons_ were rarely used nowadays, and when they were it tended to be touch-sensitive or just for show.

His constant battling with the ones in his new living arrangements was a testament to that.

A creak and a whir sounded from behind the doors that had Inuyasha's ears tipping forward. The sounds grew louder, coming to a halt with a groan as the doors slowly opened to reveal an elevator. It was more of a… _hatch_ than any type of elevator he was used to. The cool breeze that came from the opening had him backing away slightly, the barely-there enclosure not sitting well.

"Come on," Kagome was already stood in the body of the lift, looking straight at him.

He pushed himself to move, slowly entering the… _cage_ to stand next to her. He was displeased by the way its chassis creaked with his added weight, the slight bob of the floor that should have been _solid_ pulling his lips into a frown.

He wasn't _that_ heavy.

"Is this… this place is old," his eyes drifted shut in defeat.

What at the perfectly _normal_ sentence.

"Yes." Kagome chirped but didn't continue, instead fiddling with an identical panel to the one on the outside.

"You're not going to give me anything else, are you?" he asked, tipping his head to the side to watch her.

"There isn't really much to tell. This place isn't used for it's intended purpose, we just…moved in."

Inuyasha's hand shot out to grasp the railing to his right, the cage around them rattling loudly as it began to rapidly descend without warning. His ears swivelled in every direction to catch the sounds bouncing around them, picking up on the rush of wind underneath them. His nose tickled with the scent of freshwater, the usual hint of iodine that came from the reserves he and so many others were used to completely absent.

The shake of the cord they were being suspended by made for a bumpy ride, the swiftness they were falling at forcing his stomach into his throat. The scent of water grew stronger with each passing moment, and he couldn't help but marvel at the new sensation. Even if it felt like an elevator ride straight to hell.

This shaft was _deep_ if those hints were anything to go by.

"Hang on, moved in?" he realized he'd been entirely distracted from what she said by his epiphany, steering the conversation back.

His eyes bugged at the sudden jolt that had the whole cage coming to a complete stop. He heard a crunch to his right, turning to glance briefly before doing a double-take at the now crushed railing under his hand.

Inuyasha pulled his hand back as if it had burned him, "Uh…"

Kagome's voice was faint, but he'd pick it up anywhere, "It's fine."

He swallowed back the stab of shame that crept up on him, forcing himself to keep his eyes forward as the door slid open so he wouldn't have to decipher the look she was likely giving him. He felt her eyes burning into the side of his head, and he fought the urge to turn to her.

He heard the small sigh leave her, but he kept his eyes straight ahead, making sure to plant his feet evenly and firmly as he exited before her. He felt a little of the tension leave him solid concrete met the soles of his feet, before glaring back at the shaft that was now closing back up.

This place _sucked_.

"INUYASHA TAISHO!" The bellowing shout that filled the room they'd entered had them both freezing.

Fox stood in the only doorway in front of them, arms raised above his head with the broadest grin on his _stupid_ face.

Inuyasha's heart _stopped_ at the name, everything around him becoming deathly quiet as a fresh wave of panic shot through him. The last time he'd heard the combination of words, his world had gone dark.

So, he waited…and waited.

And nothing happened.

"Just wanted to make sure you weren't gonna go all psycho on us," Fox sniggered, but he was the only one laughing.

"Why you little…" Inuyasha launched himself after the other man, _almost_ delighting in the way he turned and high tailed it immediately. He blazed after him, ignoring the foyer to the _Arena_ in pursuit of his prey. They were out the door within seconds, and Inuyasha had to give the kid credit, he was fast.

But he was going to catch him.

"I can't help it! It's in my nature!" Fox pleaded, eyes widening when turned and he noticed Inuyasha gaining on him.

Inuyasha caught up to him quickly, latching onto the back of his jacket and pulling him to an abrupt stop. He whirled Fox round to face him, lifting him until his feet were off the ground to get in his face.

"And what if I did, huh? What if I fucking did go all _psycho_ on you? What then?" Inuyasha pressed, shaking the fucker with each word for good measure.

"Pfft, you're _fine_. It was obviously an alt for some sleeper mode set into your chip, you dolt. Your chip is dead. Think about it," he tapped Inuyasha's forehead as he squirmed, struggling to get out of the death grip that held him, "Dude, how fucking fast _are_ you anyways?"

"A fucking _alt_? Are you even-" the sudden rush of adrenaline caused his claws to pierce into the collar he held, "what the _fuck_ is your problem?"

"You shouldn't talk to yourself. People will wonder," the smirk that accompanied the statement was _maddening_.

Inuyasha caught wind of a shift in the air, one that had the hair on the back of his neck standing at attention. A resounding _pop_ had his ears feeling like they were going to burst, and suddenly, he was grasping onto nothing, the man that had once been in his clutches having vanished into thin air.

"What the fuck was that?" Inuyasha turned to Kagome, who'd appeared next to him after catching up, "Kagome, what the fuck was that?"

She laughed, grabbing onto his arm while dragging him further down the hall as if people _vanishing_ at the drop of a hat was an everyday occurrence.

"I already told you, he has a flair for the dramatics."

* * *

The 'Arena' Kagome was referring to was monstrous, the main room that made up the centre of it stretching further than enclosed space he had ever been in. It was more of a cavern, stone facades and strange equipment taking up every corner. The centre was bare, targets and weapons he couldn't name scattered everywhere. Large archways broke off from the centre every now and then, carved into the stone around them. Inuyasha couldn't help but wonder what less than a dozen people needed all this space for.

The crash that came from the two people throwing blow after blow at each other caused Inuyasha to jump, the echo of each of their grunts and shouts carrying through the room clear as day.

"This is where we mostly train. Weapon refinement, combat skills, that sort of thing. Some of us have particular abilities that help our cause. This is where we nurture that," Kagome smiled as she waved a hand over the scene before them.

Inuyasha's eyes cut to hers then, hoping the unspoken question was obvious.

_So, why are you here?_

Kagome didn't take the bait, instead clearing her throat and turning back to point at an exceptionally high set of stone walls that took up one side of the room, "that might be of some interest to you. Maybe test out how high you can jump? How far you can go?"

But Inuyasha didn't take the bait either, "what happened Kagome?"

He _almost_ regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth when he saw the discomfort physically wash over her. He didn't want to be the cause of that, even if he was dying to know the reasoning.

"Can…can we hold that conversation for later? Just for now?" Kagome tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, head turning to peer over at the other people that occupied the space.

Fuck.

"Yeah…yeah," he shuffled awkwardly, wishing he'd waited until the 'tour' was over to bring up what should have been an obviously heavy topic. He didn't exactly owe her the right to privacy - not at this point - but he wanted to extend the courtesy regardless.

As _crazy_ as that sounded.

"Who's your money on?" Inuyasha pointed to the two women laying into each other in the centre of the room, brown and red hair flying around them.

Kagome head shot back towards him, and she smiled, grateful for the momentary reprieve.

He was all too happy to oblige.

"So, we operate under that rule. No names, no identification. If anyone finds out who we are, where we are, or what we do, we're done." Kagome led him through yet another room, targets lined up on the far end, " _Being_ someone in AC has its drawbacks."

She left no stone unturned, pointing out rooms and equipment that meant nothing to him but everything to them. They worked through training themselves like clockwork, and he was exhausted just hearing about it.

"So…you couldn't have picked better names to go by?" Inuyasha couldn't help it, he had to get that dig in. Kagome stopped and turned; a small frown set on her face.

"They suit us," she began, a wave of her hand cutting her short, "you'll see."

She approached an entryway, the door sliding open smoothly with her presence, "Slayer, for instance, comes from a long line of Taijiya, also known as demon _slayers."_

Inuyasha heard her, but he stopped in the doorway to look around the frame. This one was automatic, unlike so many he had seen here. Most of the Arena – which screamed of some _massive_ conversion project – was made up of high-end technology that didn't seem to reach the higher levels. If his room was anything to go by.

"Wait, _demon_ slayer?" He shook his head, following her into the room.

The room that housed dozens of screens projecting every angle of the training facility they were in.

"Are you- is everyone a fucking voyeur these days?" Inuyasha threw his hands up, sick and tired of seeing everything _recorded_.

Kagome ignored him, pointing to a screen that showed Slayer sprinting across the main room he'd seen her in before, dodging projectiles that flew at her from every angle, "Slayer, short for _demon_ slayer. She's been here for 7 years. Lost her family not long before that. All Taijiya, not that they were in commission. Prime target. Naraku took them all out one night, she's the only survivor. She's been hunting him down ever since."

She gestured to another screen, showcasing the guy with the piercing blue eyes he hated with a passion, "Wolf, he's been here the longest. He and Ayame ran a gang in the city, they got caught up with the wrong people and…if you can guess who they might have had ties to, you'll know where I'm going with this. Boss brought them in undercover, but that only lasted a few months. They lost…a lot of family at the time."

Inuyasha watched the tiny depiction of Wolf hollering something they couldn't hear, cheering at something they couldn't see.

"They brought the Twins in a few years back when things were getting rough again, and they've been here full time ever since," Kagome pointed to the people he could see on the screens furthest away, the two figures she was referring to leaping from the rafters of the giant chasm that made up the main room.

That was… _peculiar_.

Inuyasha watched as the people on the screens went about their 'exercises', each of them more daring than the last. He was quietly impressed as the two other women he'd come to know darted back and forth, moving targets heading straight for them. He thought targets were meant for practising aim, but this proved otherwise.

He wasn't sure what these people actually did – apart from being nosy as fuck – but whatever they were training for had to be something big and _bad_. Going up against organized crime was one thing.

Hurtling yourself across a room with energized targets hot on your tail was another.

Inuyasha noticed the lack of a particular orange-haired fuck, "And… Fox?" he asked reluctantly.

"Oh, he's... always been here? I'm not actually sure. He isn't an agent."

"Come again?"

"Yeah, he was technically the first. But he's our resident hacker and…cheerleader? He doesn't do fieldwork."

"…how old is he?" There had been _hints_ here and there, but the puny douche looked no more than twenty, tops.

"He claims to be about 200, give or take a few decades."

"The fu- _claims_ to be?"

"You can't believe a word he says, really."

"He's a demon, isn't he?" the _chances_ , "Like a _full_ fucking demon?"

"Yes."

"And the others?" Inuyasha looked back towards the screens.

"Sango and I are the only humans here," she paused, noticing her own slip-up, "and the Boss."

"Right, so about the names. If you keep slipping up, how am I supposed to know what to call people?" Inuyasha had too many questions piling into his head at once. "Forget that, that's why they're all here, isn't it? Because Naraku's gone after them before? For being…"

 _Demon_.

"In these cases, yes. We just don't know what he's doing with them. There aren't many of them… _you_ left. At least not with such high quantities."

"And…them?" Inuyasha watched the display as the men of the base gathered together, cackling to each other as Ayame approached them.

"Wolf Demons," she looked to the fondly, an amused smile growing on her face, "Full, that is. Now you know where he gets his name."

Kagome poked the screen where Wolf's face was, her tiny finger covering his annoying as fuck face completely. Inuyasha barked a laugh, hand slapping over his mouth at the absurdity.

The _Half_ status had yet to fully take root. He knew, he fucking _knew_ he was… _a lot_ of demon before this but to have it confirmed when he had convinced himself that he didn't care wasn't sitting well.

Or, at all for that matter. _Yikes_.

"OK, so full demons are more common than I thought but not _actually_ common," he pondered aloud, "and Naraku is trying to take them all out for _some reason."_

"That's the cut and dry," Kagome nodded along with him.

"And you guys _really_ aren't sure what he's doing with them?" The lack of any information about the people who had gone disappeared on the file he'd read was unsettling, always ending at a missing person report; if it even got that far.

"We have some guesses like Slayer said, but it's hard to get that close to him. We have enough on him to know _enough_. No one's truly impossible to find in this city. But everyone knows _Onigumo_ the Commissioner. _Naraku_ may as well be a figment of our imagination."

"And… he's just there for everyone to see," he concluded, more than peeved at the audacity. The fact that he couldn't remember ever noticing the guy before now didn't help.

Because she was right, for someone that was front and centre for everyone to see, his true nature was exceptionally well hidden.

Not unlike himself.

"Yes…he covers his tracks well, hardly ever leaves a trace where he goes. He rarely does his own bidding. This _city_ may as well be its own country, people vanish all the time. It's not hard to lose track, and he uses that to his benefit. But where do you go when someone goes missing?" Kagome asked, turning towards him with an arch of her brow.

"The Police, I get it," Inuyasha ran a hand through his bangs, ruffling them as he tried to figure out which path to take, "twins. The Twins! Fucking _why_ were they acting as officers when they stopped me? I should actually-"

"Technically, they were undercover. But they were only wearing the suits, you didn't ask for their credentials," she smiled, as if knowing Inuyasha had contemplated it at the time.

"I should really go back there and-"

Kagome pulled on his sleeve as he started towards the exit, "We needed to get a good look at you. You're either at work, holed up in that apartment or Miroku is _on_ you. I'm sorry, we just…needed to know why Naraku was watching you so closely."

He allowed her to stop him, "So, if this Naraku has such a hard-on for me, how did you guys get to me first?"

He should have known by the laugh that bubbled out of her that he wouldn't like where this was headed.

"Fox can show you."

* * *

Having to deal with the man who'd given him nothing but a headache at every meeting and a sore ear wasn't something Inuyasha wanted to do, but he needed the specifics taken care of. And _that_ was who he had to talk to.

The grin he walked in to had him second-guessing if he even _wanted_ to know.

"Welcome back."

"I don't want to be here," as if that wasn't obvious enough, he just had to blurt it out like that.

"Too bad. I've got all the juicy details you seek!" Fox waved a hand over the monitor in front of him.

The sigh that left Inuyasha was wrapped in reluctance. It was time to buck up and listen to the kid.

Or geezer. _Whichever_.

"Fine." He marched over to the desk piled high with garbage, grabbing the seat that sat under it. Inuyasha scoffed when a pile of… _books_ fell from its cushion and onto the ground.

He looked over to Fox, noting that he was paying his guest no mind as he tapped away at his _contraptions_. Because that's what they fucking _were_ , he'd concluded _,_ taking note of the details of the room he hadn't before _._

There were books _everywhere_ , hidden amongst machines that were surely of no use to anyone. Some were stacked so ludicrously that it was hard to believe they were balanced enough to stand as tall as they did. It was something Inuyasha hadn't glimpsed often in his young life. He grabbed the closest one that sat on the desk, surprised by how heavy it felt.

Holos were always light as a feather, and the weight difference was interesting, to say the least. The only books he'd ever seen, he'd never had the right to touch. As he opened it, Inuyasha was slammed with the overwhelming smell of the pages it held together. He was utterly bowled over by how _lifelike_ it seemed, the musty smell wafting around him.

"Ah, 1984," Fox piped up suddenly, drawing Inuyasha's attention back to him, "How apt."

"What?"

"Yeah, it's about Big Brother, y'know. _They're always watching?"_

"Big…brother?" Nothing this guy said made any sense, _ever_.

"God, nevermind," Fox sneered, swivelling in his chair once his fun was over, "do you want to look at some shit or not?"

"Um…yes?"

"Come on then! I don't have all day."

"Sorry, am I keeping you?"

"You? Yes, always."

* * *

Inuyasha watched with rapture as Fox rattled through a timeline of events, shocked yet again by just how much they knew about his life and how little he _didn't_. He turned, eyes narrowing on the other man. Forcing himself into every surveillance camera in AC seemed to be a walk in the park for the prick that Inuyasha was sure he truly _hated_. Now knowing that he'd been the one watching him, _analyzing_ him for months was doing him no favours.

"You'd be surprised how hard it is to get in Taisho Corp. I know you waltzed around like you owned the place but-"

"Excuse me?"

"Pfft. Look here," Fox brought scrolled through some images, maximizing the one he wanted, "you really were being babysat."

There, on the screen, was Inuyasha. But he was fucking out of it. _Seriously_ out of it, sitting at his desk staring off into space, eyes glazed over as he stared straight ahead. The worst part was his co-workers' eyes that lingered on him, milling around him as if it were an everyday occurrence. He paused on Miroku, sat in the background with his eyes trained on Inuyasha from his usual perch. It told him everything he needed to know.

They all knew.

"You're their King," the guffaw that came from Fox had his fist clenching. He needed to get through this before he pounded him into the ground.

"What happened before that?"

"Elaborate."

"I don't remember the four days before that image," the tip of his claw tapped on the monitor.

"Hm. If I remember correctly, you and your handler didn't leave your apartment," he tapped away at the keyboard that was too _fucking_ loud, "yeah, here. The last time you entered Taisho Corp. was that Monday."

Fox pointed to a log on the monitor above their heads, every single time his Interface had been scanned upon entry laid out in order by date. Inuyasha gawked. _Perfect_.

"There are checks at almost every stop, the ones that you didn't have to do, you didn't _notice_. You and the douche with the earring have almost full clearance." Fox clicked through a set of security cameras, highlighting every entrance Taisho Corp possessed on the way up to his floor, "although, I would love to know how he got you from Taisho to your place."

"Huh?"

"Yep, you turned up for work on Friday from your place. Didn't see you go back there though, did I?" Fox reached for him, but Inuyasha slapped his hand away before he could do whatever he planned.

"This is a fucking nightmare," Inuyasha ran his hands over his face, grimacing at the sweat of his palms, "why is everything so…wrapped up in _everything_?"

"Amazing, isn't it?"

"What?"

"How you didn't even know."

"Know what, precisely?" he snapped, officially out of patience for all the guessing games.

"How important you are."

 _"Fuck. Off."_ Inuyasha rose from his seat, pacing behind him immediately.

"So, you managed to hack into…my workplace' network," he tripped over the name, "and I suppose that means Naraku did too?"

"Nope," the pop of his lips as Fox looked too fucking pleased with himself was maddening.

"Try again," Inuyasha stopped his pacing to stare him down.

"You see, I thought _I_ was the trickster here, but no no no," Fox tutted as he spun in his chair, "someone - hint, it was Naraku – managed to set off an alert in that building. We thought it was under siege, just like the police _would have_ but he held off on reinforcements. That's why the girls showed up the way they did."

Inuyasha looked at him, incredulous to the explanation.

"He got us to do the dirty work for him."

"And the dirty work was…"

"Not too sure really. Did he know you'd dismantle an entire city's data centre? Unlikely. But he obviously wanted you out of there for some reason. Probably so he could get _in_ there."

A loud boom echoed around the room, the video feed that suddenly appeared on one of the screens causing Inuyasha to wince as it shot through his ears.

"That first bombing?" Fox pointed to the footage of smoke billowing from the shop front that no longer existed, "That was Renkotsu. We'd been tipped off that someone had been watching you within your block. When Slayer went to check it out, it was bogus. Nearly got her too."

Inuyasha recalled the way she'd hurled herself from the store, cutting his drunken reunion with Kagome off before it had begun.

_Intel was a bust._

"The fact that you were there at the time was purely coincidental. That friend of yours is a terrible handler." Fox tsked and for some reason, Inuyasha felt the need to defend Miroku.

Despite everything.

But he held his tongue, wanting to get the facts rather than work through his _feelings._

"The second bombing. Why was Miroku's apartment the target?" Inuyasha asked, remembering the smoke that seeped from the vent of his friend's floor rather than his own.

"Ah well, your buddy was a placeholder too. No one could identify the exact apartment you were in- I even couldn't - so Ren just… _got it wrong._ Whenever you look up a certain Inuyasha Takahashi, you get pinged to a Mr Miroku Okada." A photo of the man in question popped up on the screen.

He had to look away.

"Personally, I don't think they were trying to kill you, just get you out in the open, so they could find you better," Fox carried on, impartial to the discomfort of the other man, "good thing our girls found you first huh? Or rather, you found them?"

"That Renkotsu freak didn't want to kill me, huh?" Inuyasha laughed bitterly, "but he was fine, killing countless others for the sake of _smoking me out_?" His pacing begun once more, leg kicking out at the chair he'd abandoned.

"Pretty much. From what we've gathered, you were the key to stopping Naraku from acquiring certain data. For whatever reason, you were the firewall that prevented anything from getting in. It just…happened to be us that set you off," Fox had the grace to look _sorry_ for once, "but it all worked out in the end, right?"

" _Shut up_. What does Naraku want from Taisho Corp, hm? Surely bank details and social security numbers are of no use to the _Commissioner_ of the ACPD?" Inuyasha was becoming frantic, ready to take his anger out on anyone or anything at that moment as he paced the small space.

"Look, I know you like to keep it lowkey or whatever, but most people in AC have their entire lives loaded onto their Interface. Names, dates, locations, _blood_ types…fucking _think_ about it," Fox was suddenly in front of him, tapping on Inuyasha's forehead once more.

_Enhancements? Says here you don't have any._

The line of questioning the Twins had given him on their first fateful meeting broke through his frustration, forgetting that he was about to use the guy in front of him as a punching bag.

"He wants to track demons through their data."

"Bingo."

"…what the _fuck_ does Bingo mean?" Inuyasha chose the wrong thing to get pissed about, but his constant use of outdated lingo made it hard to follow him completely.

"Nevermind," Fox dared to look disappointed, as if he hadn't just tried to use some foreign language.

"Whatever," Inuyasha carried on with his pacing, "so, the first bombing. Why was I…like _that_?"

Fox turned to him, green eyes questioning, "Like what?"

"Like…that." Inuyasha insisted, not wanting to spell it out.

"You mean like this?" An image of said state appeared, Fox purposefully zooming in too close.

"Uh…"

"I think you have a hard time controlling your demon blood, boy. Slayer said your aura blew up just like your place did," the snigger at the end had Inuyasha's eyes twitching. _Prick._

"What…are you talking about?" _Demon_ blood and _auras_ were not on his fucking radar, far from it.

"It really isn't my job to give you the talk, bud. Your _Guardian_ should have done that for you."

 _Ouch_.

"Do you remember what happened beforehand?" Fox motioned to the comically large image of Inuyasha with blood-red eyes.

"The shop went up, I remember getting up but…everything is blank after that," the photo os Miroku dragging his scary ass through the smoke and debris flashed before his eyes. The night he was shown the cold _hard_ truth already felt like a lifetime ago, and it had been no more than two days.

"Perhaps a defence mechanism? Maybe…threat to life triggered some kind of last resort? Or, maybe that nasty chip of yours had something to do with it," the other man shoved his nose into the screen in front of him, clearly losing interest quickly, "you'll find out soon enough."

"Meaning?"

"We're putting you to work, obviously."

Whatever that work was, Inuyasha wasn't ready to hear it. "And that will tell me…"

"Well, we've never met a half-demon before. Who knows what triggers that," Fox zoomed in and out of the image they were mulling over, "I'll be watching either way."

Fox turned to him, the glint of the fangs he bore now clear as day. The pointy tips of his ears peeked out from the pile of orange hair on top of his head, the twinkle in his green eyes inhuman. His finger pointed towards Inuyasha, drawing his gaze to the blunt claws that sat on the ends of each finger.

He was kicking himself for not noticing the signs before now.

"What kind of demon are you?"

"You can't tell?" Fox spun languidly in his chair, gesturing towards himself. "I thought it was fairly obvious."

"Humor me."

A bright blue flame burst from one of the books that lay idle near his feet, and Inuyasha sprang back, shielding his face as he expected heat that never came. As his arm lowered, he was baffled to find the book in question still intact, instead of charred like he thought paper would be.

As he looked up, he spun when Fox was gone, leaving him and the room behind. Inuyasha's nose told him that he was long gone, any trail that should have led to where he went absent. He crept from his spot slowly, turning in the middle of the room as his eyes darted everywhere looking for a sign of where the other man had disappeared to.

He paused when he noticed the images they were looking at previously were gone, replaced by giant, glaring letters scattered across the monitors hanging from the wall. He worked through the possible combinations, solving the puzzle left for him in no time.

K-I-T-S-U-N-E

* * *

With no one in sight when he exited the room he was begrudgingly spending too much time in, Inuyasha headed back in the direction that would lead to his room. He thought briefly to look for Kagome, but knowing she was likely with the others while he worked through some shit had him in front of his door before he knew it.

Inuyasha stopped in front of the doorway, knowing something was off before he entered. He took a whiff of the air around him, lip furling when he picked up on a scent that wasn't his. He punched the panel a little too hard _again_ and stomped into the room as the door slid open. His ears told him whoever had been in there was long gone by now, nothing but the quiet hum that was usually present filling the space.

He breathed in deeply, taking in the subtly sweet scent that was _familiar_ , but he couldn't quite put his finger on. He followed it, the trail leading to the cabinet holding his borrowed clothing.

He threw the doors open, eyes scanning the contents as if the answer would jump out at him. His eyes stopped on the duffel that had shifted slightly from its place, a low growl beginning to rise in his throat.

Inuyasha grasped the handle, pulling the bag from it's hiding place for a closer inspection. He held it up, the unwelcomed scent that was lingering in his room covering it in its entirety. The weight told him nothing had been removed, but that didn't quell his anger. He dropped the bag to the floor as the growl increased in volume, the familiarity of that scent finally dawning on him.

_Slayer._

Inuyasha sped from the room without a second thought, nose leading him to where he needed to be. He didn't worry for the bag he'd left behind, the contents were still there. Whether they actually remained in his possession at this point, he wasn't so sure he cared.

He was fucking _over_ the prying eyes.

He tracked her scent through the corridors, pleasantly surprised by how easy the trip was when he couldn't trust his eyes to take him anywhere. He stopped dead in his tracks when the trail ended at the shaft that would take him down to the Arena, wondering if telling her off for the intrusion would be worth the trip.

He squared his shoulders when he convinced himself it would be, ready to launch himself into the worst mode of transportation he could fathom when he remembered he would need a code to enter into the keypad.

Rather than let it deter him, it made Inuyasha all the more determined to get those _fucking_ doors open and give that woman a piece of his mind.

He tried to recall a pattern or _something_ that Kagome had used earlier, punching a few of the buttons with his knuckles instead of his claws in what he hoped was a similar pattern. A short, sharp buzz sounded, announcing his failure.

He tried a few more times, ears perking when the mechanisms of the elevator sprang to life.

 _He'd fucking done it_.

Resisting the urge to grin like a lunatic, Inuyasha wasted no time clambering onto the rickety lift that would take him straight to the bitch that couldn't mind her business. He bobbed up and down on his heels, the descent seeming slower than it had earlier when he was with Kagome.

The ride wasn't as unpleasant now that he knew what to expect, and as soon as the doors opened into the foyer of the Arena, Inuyasha was off, letting his nose work for him. He was so fucking _pissed_ that he was sure at this point, he would be able to follow this scent to the ends of the _earth_ if it meant he could give her a piece of his mind.

Entering the massive main room, Inuyasha was disappointed to find no sign of anyone in the near vicinity.

And the vicinity was _huge._

But he wasn't about to let that cause him to lose his steam. He sucked in another deep breath heading in the direction of one of the archways that were situated to the right-hand side. The scent grew stronger and stronger with each step, his heart racing as he came closer to the confrontation.

He reached a door he knew she was behind, scent stopping at the threshold. A frustrated growl left him when it wouldn't just _fucking_ open like the other auto doors in this place. His head darted around, but there was no control panel for him to fuck with. Definitely an auto-door, but it wouldn't let him in.

He took a deep breath, hoping to calm the pounding of his heart that was becoming more erratic by the second. It only served to fill his nostrils to the brim with her _stink_.

This _dumb_ place, with its _stupid_ doors and it's _foolish_ techno-

The door slid open suddenly, revealing a smiling Slayer who's face dropped the second she saw him standing there, " _Oh_. What?"

"What the fuck were you doing in my room?" Inuyasha kept his gaze steady on hers, wanting her to know just how serious he was.

"What are you talking abou-"

"Cut the shit. What were you doing there?"

"Changing your sheets, Dog-Boy, now _move_ ," she attempted to shove past him, but he didn't budge.

He wasn't going to let her set this precedent so early on.

"Answer the question," Inuyasha's eyes to burned into hers, noting the shift in her posture. She was uncomfortable.

_Good._

"Why should I tell you anything?" she rebuked, crossing her arms in that pissy fashion that he hated.

"Why are you so interested in an old robe and a shitty sword?" Inuyasha countered. If she wanted to act like a child, he'd cut to the chase.

He was done with the games.

She reeled back as if he'd slapped her, "who said I was interested?"

"So, what were you doing in there then?"

" _Listen_ -"

"Fucking hell, give the guy a break," a baritone voice called behind her, and Inuyasha tensed.

"No days off, you know that _Wolf_ ," Slayer barged her shoulder into Inuyasha, angling herself into the space between him and the doorframe before getting free, "you can keep your toys. We just needed to make sure you didn't bring anything harmful in."

"Harmful? What the- "

The hard slap that came down onto his shoulder cut Inuyasha off and his head jerked to the side, hating how suddenly close he was to the other man.

"Let it go. She'll come round," he soothed, "…maybe."

Inuyasha stared at the hand that had taken residence on his shoulder, ready to rip the thing off the man it was attached to. Golden eyes glanced up to meet icy blue, considering the options; but the _Wolf_ wasn't the issue right now.

"Absolutely fucking _not_ ," Inuyasha blazed after his target, quick to catch up, "Oi."

She ignored him, picking up the pace towards the main entrance. He was hot on her heels, hovering closer when she leaned away.

"What's your fucking problem, huh? You always like this with the new guy? Or is it a problem with _what_ I am, _Demon_ Slayer?" he goaded.

" _No_. I don't like you," she stated matter-of-factly as if it weren't fucking _obvious,_ "and I don't need to sugarcoat it."

"Great, got it," as they were approaching the doors that would take them back to the upper levels, Inuyasha slid a hand around her wrist, pulling her to a stop, "don't go through my shit. I'm serious."

The downward turn of her lips nearly had him smiling, "I don't think you have the right to- "

"I don't give a fuck what you think I have a right to do, _Sango_ ," her eyes widened a fraction at his use of her given name, "stay the fuck out of my space and out of my stuff."

"What's so special about _your stuff_ , huh? Thought you didn't have anything left? What's so important about that _stuff_ that you'd hide than in a fucking closet-"

"Guys," another voice broke through their bickering, the pair of them turning to see Kagome standing in the doorway to the entrance, "seriously. Are you going to argue every time you're near each other?"

"Tell him-"

"Me? Are you fucking _kidding_?" Inuyasha threw his hands up. Disbelief seemed to be the _feeling of the day._

"Slayer, please-"

"No, _Priestess_ , you aren't going to tell me-"

"Ladi-"Wolf tried to cut in.

" _Enough_."

The room went deathly quiet, the three agents huddled around Inuyasha coming to complete standstill, "Slayer, my office. Priestess, occupy Inuyasha," and with that, the _Boss_ had everyone scattering, disappearing through the door as quickly as she appeared.

Inuyasha stood, feet cemented to the floor beneath him. Kagome came into his line of vision, but he was too busy working through the anger, the disbelief, the turmoil of being in a place he didn't know and dealing with people that didn't like him for _reasons_ he couldn't control.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice was soft, soothing in a way he loved as much as he hated, "Inuyasha?"

He blinked a few times, hands coming to rest idly at his sides. He needed to get ahold of himself and why he felt such a fucking _way_ about that bitch rifling through his things.

The only two things in the world he had left.

" _Inuyasha_ ," Kagome pressed, coming closer to him and bringing with her the overwhelming scent she carried, "can you hear me?"

"I can hear you," he assured her quickly, he'd be fucked if she thought for one second he was zooming out like _that_ again, "I just…" his voice trailed off, because honestly?

He didn't know how he felt.

The tickle of Kagome's hair under his nose shocked him, a sharp intake of breath following when he felt her arms wrap tightly around him. She placed her head on his chest, and he was _sure_ she would be able to hear the thump of his heart at the proximity.

The scent of her so _there_ drew him in, but he fought the urge to shove his face nose-first into her hair. He brought his arms up to loosely wrap around her, wary of the wonderful feeling of having her so close.

"It's OK," she mumbled into his shirt, so quiet even he almost didn't hear it. Inuyasha's grip on her tightened, drawing her a little closer. He placed his cheek against the top of her head, relishing the silky tresses against his skin. He'd give himself that.

He didn't need the sympathy, but he wanted it.

From her.

She squeezed his middle tightly before drawing back, the sweetest smile on her lovely face as she gazed up at him, "Want something to eat?"

He nodded once, swallowing the whine that tried to force it's way out of his throat when she pulled back from him altogether. Seeking comfort had never been his thing, but he could hardly control the physical reaction to the loss of her touch.

She was the only thing he knew anymore, and he didn't really know her at all.

His newfound lucidity was almost as suffocating as his previous quality of life, and it seemed navigating what had become of it weighed a little heavy for him to dwell on in large quantities. He felt neither here nor there, and the in-between was a complete headfuck.

Was he _glad_ to be here? Or was it the only option?

And if he tried to leave right fucking now…would they even let him?

His mind wandered to the duffel that was now drenched in someone else's scent, the violation still sitting uncomfortably.

"Inuyasha. It's only been a few days. Give yourself some time," Inuyasha's eyes made contact with Kagome's, misplaced assuredness so blatant in their depths. She stood by the exit, but he hadn't moved to follow her, feet still planted in the place.

As he made a move to follow Kagome out the door, he felt the turn of his gut when she bestowed him with one of her killer smiles. On the surface, she seemed to have absolute faith in him. He didn't know why; he didn't feel like he'd earned the privilege.

But he'd try his best to live up to that. For her, and for himself.

Even if it didn't last.

* * *

Inuyasha licked the fork clean, a belch following that he couldn't have stopped if he tried. Not that he wanted to, beyond satisfied with himself as he surveyed his handiwork. The booth they occupied was now littered with containers he'd emptied, no hint of anything left behind.

"Good?" a giggle drifted to his ears, drawing his attention back to Kagome. She watched him from her side of the table, a pleased smile on her face.

He looked away from her, the weight of her gaze too much sometimes, "Yeah. Thanks."

"Want anything else?" she asked, picking at the food in front of her.

He snorted, the mass of empty vestibules around him discounting that, "Really, I'm good. I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life." He patted his now full stomach for emphasis.

"Oh?" the tone of her questioning was odd - hardly conversational like it had been - and it forced him to bring his eyes back to hers.

She looked down at her food quickly, and he noticed the slight shift of her frame as she rearranged herself, an obviously uncomfortable gesture.

"Kagome," she wouldn't look at him, " _Kagome_."

She looked up slowly, and he scowled at the apprehension he saw, "What do you mean… _Oh_?"

It sounded _dumb as fuck_ \- as usual - but at this point, Inuyasha would question everything that had him second-guessing _anything_.

"It's just…I had a feeling that maybe…your medication might have been…messing with your senses…and _such_ ," she looked everywhere at him, suddenly becoming animated as she messed with the food she wasn't eating.

"And _such?"_

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

The deep sigh that left Kagome had his ears flicking forward as she slumped against the table, lip jutting out when she pouted slightly, "You didn't need much sleep last night right? And you said yourself you don't remember eating this much?" she nudged a cup near her for good measure, "I just thought it might have made a difference. And…I think it did."

Inuyasha recalled how she encouraged him to use his nose when she'd first taken him to his room.

"Kagome…how much do you know?" his voice was quiet, timid as he braced himself for the answer.

He couldn't decipher the look she gave him, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"I've seen your records," she shifted in her seat, uncrossing her legs as she looked straight into his fucking _soul_.

"Which ones?" he croaked. _Please, fuck, no_.

"All of them."

Inuyasha felt the breath he'd been holding rush out of him, back coming to rest fully against the plush cushion of the booth. He felt his fingers twitch, the silence deafening as the seconds went by.

He allowed his head to fall back, resting it there as he gazed up at the ceiling.

He knew, he fucking knew they – _she_ – had seen everything at this point, but the verbal confirmation had sucked the life out of him.

His psychiatric records were a fucking _mess,_ to say the least, and the last person on earth he wanted to know anything about them seemed to know a little too much.

It was a reminder, a well-timed one, that she was not unlike the others here. That she was indeed no different from any other person that had been spying on him for fuck knows how long.

 _She_ had been watching him and analyzing him and _stalking_ him too, and he needed to remember that.

No matter how he felt about her

"You've seen absolutely everything?" he didn't need to ask, but he might as well.

"…yes."

"Mm."

"Inuya-"

"Stop."

"Look, I-"

"Nope," he pushed himself up and out of his seat, stopped only by the soft warmth of her palm coming to rest against his hand.

"It's not as bad as you think."

Inuyasha felt his claws dig into the smooth surface of the table they rested on, heard the disjointed rumble around them that grew in volume.

He felt the loss of her hand just as he realized that sound had been _him_.

He was reluctant to look up and gauge her reaction, but curiosity got the best of him. When his eyes met hers, he was glad to see he hadn't frightened her.

But he was peeved to see that twinge of pity back.

Inuyasha pulled his hand back, biting the inside of his cheek when he felt the tug of his claws coming loose from its surface, "Why are you here, Kagome?" he levelled his gaze with hers.

He felt she owed him that much.

He heard the puff of air the left her lips as she deflated, watched as her eyes darted around his features, possibly looking for an out.

Inuyasha wasn't going to give it to her.

"You know why _I'm_ here, you've told me why _they_ are here," he threw his hand over his shoulder, gesturing to no one, "so, I'm gonna ask again. Why are you here, Kagome?"

Before he realized it, he was leaning over the table, saw her backing up into the cushion of the booth she still sat in.

"I remember you wanted to become a doctor _._ According to everyone and _every_ platform you're on, you fucked off out of AC a _long_ time ago," he felt the blood rushing to his ears, "but you're still _here_ , and I want to know _why_."

Her lip quirked up ever so slightly before it dropped back into a frown, but he'd seen it, "You looked me up?"

 _Shit_.

"No."

 _Lies_.

"Ugh," Kagome rolled her eyes before clambering to get out of her seat, hair flipping over her shoulder as she went. She came to stand in front of him, deep blue eyes sizing him up as she went. Their size difference forced him to tip his head forward, gazing down at the cute little thing he was supposed to be _mad_ at.

"What?" he asked when she made no move to speak.

"Why did you look me up Inuyasha?"

"I wanted to know what happened to you. Kind of like right now." His gaze narrowed on her, daring her to carry on. It wasn't necessarily a lie…it just wasn't the whole truth.

She contemplated him, eyes roving over his frame in a way that stirred something deep within him. She wasn't pleased with the answer, but he wasn't about to hand her the specifics, she already had enough of those. She tutted, crossing her arms under her chest in the most delightful way.

_Don't look down, don't look down._

"I guess…I guess I owe you that much," she relented, the wrinkle of her brow smoothing out. She turned back to arrange herself in the booth, hands coming to rest on the table as they clasped together before her.

Inuyasha could tell she was uncomfortable, it was written all over her face as she became lost in thought. He slowly moved to sit back down across from her, worried any sudden movement might break the quiet that had settled over them. He watched as she bit into her lip, fighting the twitch in his fingers as the urge to reach across the table and make her _stop that_ warred within him.

"It's hard talking about this because…I know you. Kind of," she began, a faint smile ghosting across her lips, "the others…they didn't know me before. They don't know me as Kagome."

He could see where she was coming from, eyes dropping to the small hands that were wringing together as she continued.

"Five years ago, I was attacked on my way home from school," her voice was steady, sure, "Boss located me not long after and I've been here ever since."

His eyes shot up, ears tipping forwards because he couldn't have heard her right, "What?"

"I…have a particular gift that some may find useful. Others…others want me gone because of it," she ran her hands through her hair, ruffling the locks as she went. He held his breath as a fresh burst of her scent washed over him with the gesture.

"Wait, when you said abilities, I thought you meant like… _enhancements_."

"No, these come naturally."

"…naturally? You're human."

"My codename? Priestess? It's _so_ cheesy I know but…it's because I'm a Miko."

"Like…a reiki wielder?" Modern dilution had made it so that Reiki was just background noise, the few that had it in them blending into the sea of people that inhabited the city. Reiki was just a _word_ , no more individualistic than anything else in modern times.

 _Mikos_ , however, were the stuff of urban legends.

"Yes, just…a little bit more than your average person walking around AC," she explained, although it wasn't much of an explanation.

Goosebumps blossomed along his flesh as the air around them crackled, a wave of energy he'd never felt before surging through him that had his teeth grinding together. His eyes widened as he saw the faint glow emanating from Kagome's hands that remained clasped firmly together on the table.

The initial burst of energy calmed somewhat, but he remained rigid, the shock to the system holding him hostage. He felt the sudden urge to run from the unfamiliar feeling that had manifested around him, but he was as enamoured by the display as he was spooked.

"It won't hurt you. I've learned how to control it. Thanks to the others," she breathed a deep sigh of relief, letting go of whatever she was holding onto as the glow dissipated between them. Her hair came to rest gently over her shoulders, picked up without his noticing by the unknown force.

He swallowed thickly, the instinct to flee still prevalent, "What was that?"

"Reiki. Purification energy. It's hard to put an exact science on it…even today."

"And what does it…"

"Combats… _nullifies_ youki," her lips pursed together, the implication heavy around them.

"Oh," his gaze dropped to the table once more, "so you can…what, _kill_ demons with it?"

"Renkotsu?" she quipped, "he's gone now."

The bow he'd seen her use on that video feed…the burst of light that followed it.

"That was _you_? Not just some fancy weapon?"

"No, not just some fancy weapon. Only I can use it. It helps me manifest…channel that energy into something solid. I don't always have to use it like that but…"

Inuyasha swallowed thickly, the need to _protect_ barreling into something bigger before he could stop it, "so you just…run around killing bad guys? Putting yourself in danger like…like that?"

"It's not up to me Inuyasha," she urged, "that night…five years ago, I had to disappear. For good. It's not about what I want, it's about what I need. And that's to keep my family safe. If that means I have to fight along the way, so be it."

He could hear the determination in her voice, both pride and sorrow filling him with how sure she sounded.

"You haven't seen them since?"

"My family? No. They know I'm fine…" she trailed off, "that's enough."

They watched each other from across the table, the tone their conversation had taken adding a touch of _realness_ Inuyasha had wanted but quickly regretted.

This girl, the one he could admit he as truly, madly, deeply in love with for _no fucking reason_ , had suffered hardships he couldn't even begin to imagine. While he – the _asshole_ that he was- was sitting pretty, blissfully unaware of just how lousy everyone had it outside the bubble he lived in.

He wasn't the only one who had been robbed.

"I'm sorry," the apology left his lips later than he would have liked, the awkward silence that had stretched between them broken by half-assed condolences.

"It's not your fault," Kagome insisted, "it always boils down to one person. And that isn't you."

"Naraku?"

"Naraku."

"Was he the one that…" he couldn't finish the sentence.

"No. He rarely does his own dirty work."

"He hurt you, though?"

She peeked up at him, trepidation marring her features. At that moment, she looked just like the girl he remembered. Small, unassuming, _gorgeous_.

She nodded slowly, hands wringing together once more as she let her eyes fall away from his.

His blood boiled at the thought of anyone laying a hand on her.

"What do you need me to do?"

* * *

_Fin_


End file.
